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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.29.110.205
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 08:09 pm:   

You're all so predicatble, so I thought I'd start one for you . . . :-)

Discuss.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 81.129.143.153
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 08:35 pm:   

First five minutes, thought: great.

Flagged a bit half-way.

CGI overdose.

Picked up again at the end.

Liked the Scottish assistant. Wahey!

Wasn't as annoyed by Matt Smith as I thought I might be. Love the bowtie.

Looking good, I think. The preview of the rest of the series with the vampires etc etc was quite exciting.

Mark S.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 09:09 pm:   

That just about tallies with my own thoughts, Mark (especially regarding the rather lovely new assistant). Not a bad opener; looks like it could get better.
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John (John)
Username: John

Registered: 05-2008
Posted From: 82.24.1.217
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 09:27 pm:   

Evil cracks in the walls? I'm sure I've seen that somewhere before...

Anyway - a really confident, entertaining opening. Thought Matt Smith made the role his own, the new assistant was very... winsome. The second half of the episode wasn't quite as good as the fairy-tale opening, but all very exciting.

The only issue I have is the constant, intrusive score. And I'm not sure if I like what they've done to the theme...
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Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 09:27 pm:   

A seriously pretty new assistant. Pity she won't be keeping that outfit for the rest of the series, though.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.29.234
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 09:55 pm:   

(Thanks, Gary)

It's a lovely feeling when you catch yourself smiling while watching something. This had the confidence to take its time and build character and modultate the pace as needed. It gave you room to feel your own feelings, have your own thoughts. The ep itself was not bad, but the ingredients are all there for a terrific series: character chemistry, writing, performances. Hats off to the Moff!
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.29.234
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 09:57 pm:   

And doesn't it feel as if the real Doctor is always the show's producer? We are the assistant, each time taking the risk of going on a journey with him.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 09:59 pm:   

That's a nice comment, Proto.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Saturday, April 03, 2010 - 10:56 pm:   

>>It's a lovely feeling when you catch yourself smiling while watching something.<<

That sums it up for me too, Proto. I haven't felt this excited after seeing a new Doctor since the 6th became the 7th - and I hope that thought doesn't put anyone off! What I mean is, I loved *old* Doctor Who - the First through to the Fourth - but then I .. er, well .. grew up, I guess you could say. But when I caught it again several years later when Sylvester McCoy first started in the role, I felt like I'd suddenly embarked on my second childhood - I loved it all over again. And it feels like Matt Smith has just got me started on my third childhood now.

Just two negatives for me:
1. What HAVE they done to that theme tune? It's dire!
2. I can't help feeling that monster thingy (can't recall what it was called) would have been so much better had it been animatronic rather than CGI.

But apart from that .. wow! Matt Smith has certainly made the role his own in double-quick time. He was quirky, confident, lovable, eccentric - quite brilliant, in fact. As well as seeing a lot of the 7th Doctor in him, I also think he's been very much influenced by the 4th - and we know how popular he was.

The story was a bit silly, I guess, but the characters (even minor ones) were so engaging, it had me enthralled from the start. We even had a lovely cameo of the *old* Doctors. There were some great one-liners in the script, and I reckon Moffat is really going to get this thing back on track again.

Oh, I obviously don't share you young fellas' enthusiasm for Amy Pond, but she didn't immediately irritate me like several of the new companions have done. I think she's going to be an interesting character. There are a few unanswered questions about her past - like the missing parents and aunt - and I reckon we're going to get some nice background info on that as the series progresses - like we did about Ace's background when she was the Doc's companion. In fact, I reckon she's a lot like Ace - my favourite companion, of course.

Yes, I loved it, and - just like I did with the advent of the 7th Doc - I'm looking forward to each new week's episode again now. Well done Mr. Moffat and co. This is going to be one heck of a ride!
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Matthew Fryer (Matthew_fryer)
Username: Matthew_fryer

Registered: 08-2009
Posted From: 90.202.180.203
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 02:29 am:   

Yeah, Matt Smith can definitely stay.

The new theme isn't dark enough.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 02:31 am:   

Okay, first rushed impressions... Matt Smith is the best Doctor of the new reincarnation so far because, of the three, he looks and he acts most like what I expect the Doctor to look and act like.

The first story was a bit perfunctory, but still full of memorable moments (particularly the beginning), and the promise of greater things to come was there in spades. Yes, there was too much CGI and the score was irritating but 'Doctor Who' has always been more than the sum of its parts.

Like Caroline (our resident Who expert) I haven't been this excited about a new reincarnation since Tom Baker took the helm (after he grew on me also - as I already feel Smith will). It all looks way good, so far...
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 02:39 am:   

...and, yes, the new assistant is rather tasty in a feisty Scottish kind of way! I particularly liked the mini-skirt (reminded me of Jo Grant... oh, happy days!).
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.70
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 12:23 pm:   

The Moff done good! Excellent opening fifteen minutes, after the dire reworking of the theme tune, with the Moff capturing a fairytale mood perfectly, again playing with the show's time travel elements as he so wonderfully did in previous episodes he wrote. There was some spooky stuff. Matt Smith channelled Patrick Troughton for a while (especially handcuffed to the radiator) and there were some cannilly inserted jokes for adults. In fact, the whole show felt like it'd raised the age group of its target audience by a few years, without detracting from what RTD had done to make it a family show. New assistant was nicely more adult than previous recent ones, and just pretty damn terrific.

Sure, the show was cheap and cheerful in the middle, but it's a heck of a start.

After the mistake of giving David Tennent a dragged out farewell tour that made Tony Blair's look short and to the point, WHO is suddenly back, sharp and spicey, with its mojo intact.

Bravo!
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 12:33 pm:   

It looks like everyone's excited by this then?

I forgot to mention the TARDIS interior - absolutley stunning. I remember when I saw Waris Hussein interviewed live (or it might have been Verity Lambert, but probably they both said the same thing) talking about how they decorated the set in the original Who. They had so little money, they just took any old prop they could find (including the iconic hat/coat stand) to do the job.

The new TARDIS interior has the same feel (and the same hat/coat stand!). It looks like the Doc's been travelling across the universe picking up any old bits and pieces which take his fancy - a bit like me when I go to antique shops!

Great stuff so far.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.170.200.240
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 12:55 pm:   

Yep, Matt Smith took the role by the throat, you couldn't help but smile at his verve in the role!

Glad to see the back of the bloated big casts...the Essex geezer-ism...The soppy sentimentality.

Loved the fact the show allowed itself a few minutes to breathe..Particuly in the firsthalf hour.

Quite a few nods for us oldies...The opening space scene was straight out of Spearhead From Space...the tardis in the garden reminded me of the 60's movies for some reason.

A few faults, but that would be picky at this point -bravo,I say, perhaps now people will see how stale the show got over the last couple of years.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing how this series developes...Something I haven't felt for a while.

gcw
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.69
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 01:41 pm:   

Yeh, me too, GCW.

I disagree about the new Tardis interior. It's too busy. The best Tardis was Paul McGann's.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.90.57
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 01:57 pm:   

I agree, Mark. I was hoping for a TARDIS interior that was quieter, more spacious. I like the staircase, but I wanted to feel the interior was vast. I hope we get to see more of it. I want to see the library, for instance.
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.68
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 03:12 pm:   

I like to imagine there's room for a few planets to float around in a couple of rooms at least in the Tardis. Should be VAST!

And yes, there seems to be room for a visitation by the Doc to the young Amy Pond in a future episode, as there was a slight shot of her toward the end of the episode waiting for the Tardis and hearing it for a moment.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 04:34 pm:   

Could anyone tell I was extremely pissed when I wrote my "first rushed impressions" lol.

In the cold light of day... I stand by every word. I do believe Matt Smith has the potential to be the best Doctor since Tom Baker and, oh boy, that assistant!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 04:38 pm:   

I also think the new TARDIS looks fantastic!! Was never that fussed on the old design.

If they would only tone down the CGI and hectic background music the show would be close to perfect imo.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.90.57
Posted on Sunday, April 04, 2010 - 07:46 pm:   

They've turned down the volume of the music, at least. I think Moffat is going to slowly segue into the programme he always thought it should be.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.178.225
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 09:49 am:   

They've toned down the volume of the Doctor too. Smith is much less shouty than Tennant which bodes well.

I missed large chunks of the episode and had people talking over the rest but overall I enjoyed it. Still, just to annoy Jonathan when he reads this thread here's a few niggles: Amy ogling the Doctor as he changed his clothes; the crappy camera trick as the Doctor remembered the clue that would help him save the Earth; all the NASA bods trusting the Doctor and his crazy scheme; Amy's "stuff" she's got planned for tomorrow being a complete non-surprise (the only hook is wondering WHO she's going to do the "stuff" with); the crappy musical score (obviously); "Who da man?" -- even if it was played for laughs, Tennant would've played it straight; BBC marketing messing up the "twist" of Amy not being a real WPC; and the fact that even though I missed the first ten minutes it took me 0.0001 seconds to realise that Moffat was rehashing his old "the Doctor pops in and out of a young woman's life, leaving a strong impression on her in the process" schtick AGAIN.

But yeah, I enjoyed it and am cautiously optimistic about the new series.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.121.238
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 01:46 pm:   

One niggle I just remembered - I think we've had enough of the Doctor talking about how tough he is to aliens. If the aliens are scared of him, it reduces the sense of danger a lot. Compare this to Suketh, who makes Tom Baker quiver in pain and calls him an insect.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 01:57 pm:   

That's a good point, Proto. Time was when the Doctor hated the idea of hurting any life form, and certainly wouldn't have killed one if it could be avoided (not that he did here, of course, but this ties in with the question why would aliens be so scared of him?).

I guess nowadays we have this TV/film culture of killing anything which is deemed to be "bad". One of the things which hooked me onto Doctor Who in the first place was his vulnerability, and the fact that not all aliens were considered to be evil (well, that's two things, but you know what I mean).

One thing I'd love to see - but I'm sure we're not going to get - is more DW adventures on alien planets. It was always those which I enjoyed most with classic Who. The Doc has become far too earth-bound in my opinion.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.178.225
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 02:05 pm:   

It does also seem a bit ridiculous to make out that the Doctor's impossible to defeat when earlier he spent five minutes handcuffed helplessly to a radiator.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.93.209
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 06:37 pm:   

I agree Caroline - it's a remnant of our primative minds which evolved at a time when smashing a skull represented a solution. I love heroic pacifism. The realists are the pacifists - those who have the guts to face the hard fact that reality is complicated and solutions ususally require thinking our way out.
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.70
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 08:30 pm:   

Amy Pond's been taken into the Tardis on false pretences, you know. Oh yes she has.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 09:30 pm:   

>>Amy Pond's been taken into the Tardis on false pretences, you know. Oh yes she has.<<

Are you implying what I think you're implying, Mark?

Y'know, I always thought the Fifth Doctor was the kinkiest. He had two young ladies who went into the TARDIS fully clothed and came out willing to drop their skirts as soon as it got a little hot, and then there was the overgrown schoolboy ...

(not to mention Adric)
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.114.92
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 09:45 pm:   

I did like the bit in Starship Titanic when the old man asks to come with him and the Doctor says "Sorry, I travel alone." He didn't say that when Kylie wanted to come along!
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.74
Posted on Monday, April 05, 2010 - 11:04 pm:   

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey. Cracks. Silence. Ahh...
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 01:15 am:   

Brilliant. Just watched it. Matt Smith's an excellent Doctor. Karen Gillan's a brilliant foil- and yes, she's beautiful too. And that policewoman's outfit... but this is sexist and irrelevant. (Nonetheless, I must categorically state that I definitely would.) No overblown histrionic dramatics (take note, Russel T. Davies). Just a blend of tension, humour and occasional outright scariness (Olivia Colman and the two girls sprouting those needle fangs made for a genuinely disturbing moment)... THAT'S the way to do it. Genuinely want to actually what this series... I'd got bored with Tennant and missed a lot of his stuff, although a) Catherine Tate and b) Russell T Davies might have had something to do that. (Voyage Of The fucking Damned bloody near put me off for life.)

But, yes, the only real fly in the ointment is that godawful new remix of the theme. No. No. And thrice NO. Bad, bad, bad Murray Gold. Who obviously does alternate days with Michael Bay on the donkey-tromboning shift. That is all.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 01:28 am:   

'Watch' this series, not 'what'. My kingdom for an edit button.
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Matthew Fryer (Matthew_fryer)
Username: Matthew_fryer

Registered: 08-2009
Posted From: 90.202.180.203
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 02:55 am:   

Caroline, I hope there's more alien planet adventures too. Tennant's Doctor spent too much time on earth.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:38 am:   

I think to say it was brilliant is a bit of an overstatement, Simon. It was a decent start, but nothing more. Smith did okay (but, ye Gads is he odd-looking) and frustrated blokes seem to be getting carried away because the new assistant's a bit foxy.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:39 am:   

ps - the most perverted man in the world saying "but this is sexist and irrelevant" had me laughing out loud.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 11:47 am:   

List of things Moffat repeated from earlier episodes

Dropping in and out of female character's life - Girl in the fireplace
Repeating a phrase over and over to try to scare - Gasmasked boy and Library episodes
Doctor scares off enemy by telling them to look at his past history - Library episodes

But I don't care. It were great, the giant eye in the crack in the wall was a really good image.

Just noticed in Radio times the Vampires in venice episode is written by the same guy that did Being Human... can't wait
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 02:16 pm:   

>>(but, ye Gads is he odd-looking)<<

Ah, but didn't we all say that about Tom Baker?

Definitely no sexy Doctor for us ladies this time, but I reckon making the Doctor sexy was a bit of a mistake. It all began to go downhill once Paul McGann's Doc started snogging his companion in my opinion (and no, that's not jealousy talking - well, not much anyway ).

I wonder, though, if they'll end up getting flack for bringing back the sexy companion idea? There are definitely a lot of sexist comments floating around the Whoniverse at the moment!
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.187.65
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 04:55 pm:   

>>Dropping in and out of female character's life -Girl in the fireplace

Although I missed most of the young Amy sequence Moffatt semmed to handle it better than when he used the idea in The Girl in the Fireplace which I thought was complete tosh.

>>Definitely no sexy Doctor for us ladies this time, but I reckon making the Doctor sexy was a bit of a mistake.

Absolutely. That's why I didn't care for Amy ogling the Doctor as he changed his clothes. If the viewers happen to find the Doctor sexy then fine but having the script keep referring to his sex god status is just embarrassing and works against the idea of him coming across as truly alien. Hopefully Amy's joy at getting an eyeful was just a glitch as the new series finds it feet and will never happen again.

>>I wonder, though, if they'll end up getting flack for bringing back the sexy companion idea? There are definitely a lot of sexist comments floating around the Whoniverse at the moment!

Catherine Tate aside they've never really ditched the sexy companion idea. And even with Tate there were tons of misunderstandings about her and the Doctor being a couple as well as various episodes where she hooked up with blokes in an attempt to convince the viewing public that Tate actually is sexy. The only reason that the sexy companion idea looks sexist is that since the Pertwee era the Doctor tends to only have one companion at a time and as the Doctor's male the companion tends to be female. Back in the Hartnell/Troughton days of mulitiple companions the totty was male as well as female. And Tom Baker's Doc briefly had the square-jawed Harry Sullivan. While I'm guessing Peter Davison and Paul McGann were probably pre-Tennant attempts to turn the Doctor into man candy to keep the female viewers happy.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 05:08 pm:   

Matt Smith is already my favourite of the new Doctors precisely because of his "odd" appearance, convincing eccentricity and sheer energy. For me things started going a bit wrong way back with Peter Davison who never looked or acted the way the Doctor should look or act - too young and too normal.
Colin Baker & Sylvester McCoy looked the part but by then the quality of the show was plumbing the depths so they never really stood a chance.
McGann, Eccleston & Tennant never looked entirely convincing in the role (imo) but Matt Smith definitely does - despite his youth.
Of course this is all based on me growing up thinking of the Doctor as Jon Pertwee & Tom Baker with what I saw of Hartnell, Troughton & even Peter Cushing backing up the eccentric appearance and demeanour. The show looks like it's trying to get back to its roots and I, for one, am cock-a-hoop to see it...

Off the top of my head I'd rank the Doctors:
1. Jon Pertwee
2. Tom Baker
3. Patrick Troughton
4. William Hartnell
5. Peter Cushing
6. Peter Davison
7. Matt Smith
8. Christopher Eccleston
9. David Tennant
10. Paul McGann
11. Colin Baker
12. Sylvester McCoy

And sex was always a big part of the show growing up! The schoolboy crushes I had on the Doctor's assistants were healthy and harmless - so fair play to them for bringing a bit of totty back into the mix.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 05:12 pm:   

Wasn't it Joe mcGann not Paul?
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.187.65
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 05:17 pm:   

No, it was definitely Paul. I think Joe was the one from The Upper Hand.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 05:18 pm:   

You had me doubting my sanity there for a second, Weber!

Nah, it was Paul.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 06:27 pm:   

So it was (according to wiki so it must be right).

But then again, Paul is just Joe in drag so I was technically right.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 09:44 pm:   

Stevie, how dare you! Sylvester McCoy at No. 12!! Y'know, I used to think you seemed like a nice kind of guy, but I've gone right off you now.

Here's my top 12:

1. Sylvester McCoy
2. Patrick Troughton (my first Doctor)
3. Matt Smith (so far - early days yet - I guess they could still mess it up)
4. Tom Baker
5. Jon Pertwee
6. David Tennant (OK, his stories were rubbish, but he would have been a damn fine Doc if he'd had good stories)
7. Paul McGann
8. Peter Cushing (whilst I love him as an actor, his DW films were awful)
9. Peter Davison
10. William Hartnell (I'm afraid his Doctor scared me too much as I was very young)
11. Colin Baker
12. Christopher Eccleston

(and I'm only joking about having gone right off you, Stevie

)
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:01 pm:   

Caroline, I have very fond memories of those old Hammer (weren't they?) 'Doctor Who' films and thought Cushing was perfect for the role.

I'm pretty sure if I'd been old enough to appreciate Patrick Troughton he would have been my No.2, as great as Tom Baker was. 'The Three Doctors' was my first experience of him and any of his original stories I've seen since were excellent - I have a feeling Matt Smith's incarnation will be modelled on a younger version of Troughton (could be wrong).

Sorry, but Sylvester McCoy (and Bonnie Langford) were the last straw that made me stop watching the show in the 80s. He could have been good in an earlier era but by that stage the quality of the productions had swan-dived into oblivion imo.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.155.110.252
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:13 pm:   

You obviously never watched 'The Curse of Fenric' Stephen or 'Ghostlight'. See, at least 2 top notch seventh Dr tales and no Bonnie Langford in sight!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:21 pm:   

Every now and then I would take a peak at McCoy's episodes but they never hooked me. It seemed to have got very silly by that stage with a different guest star every week clowning around, not taking things seriously.

I'm sure there were exceptions like the stories you mention but, yeah, I missed them.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:35 pm:   

>>You obviously never watched 'The Curse of Fenric' Stephen or 'Ghostlight'. See, at least 2 top notch seventh Dr tales and no Bonnie Langford in sight!<<

.. and Remembrance of the Daleks, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, etc, etc. I must confess, if Bonnie Langford had stayed, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it long enough to appreciate the Seventh Doctor, but Ace was .. well, ace! The best Doctor/companion pairing in the history of the Who-niverse IMHO.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:39 pm:   

Actually that's interesting what people are saying about comparing Matt Smith to Troughton. It was precisely that initial feeling that Sylv's Doctor was modelled on Troughton's Doc which got me hooked again in the mid-80s. I'd gone off DW completely with Davison and Colin Baker, but with Sylv's Doctor it was like rediscovering my childhood again. And the funny thing is Matt Smith has just done that to me too. This is why I think I'm really going to enjoy his reign as the Doc.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Tuesday, April 06, 2010 - 10:52 pm:   

So I guess it was all down to the casting of Bonnie Langford in McCoy's first series that I never took to him... interesting point. Well, that, and the way the production values had been allowed to slide.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 12:06 am:   

Caroline- the nadir of Dr Who (at least until Voyage of the Damned) could be summed up in two words: Bonnie Langford. And the low point of that low point in two more words: Paradise Towers. (Sorry, that may have given you horrible flashbacks...) I actually almost stopped watching Dr Who when that was on, it was so bloody awful. As soon as Ace appeared things started to improve.

Zed- I am NOT the most perverted man in the world. There's... there's... Sod it. Outside, now! :-)

I like Smith, and yes, Pond's lovely. Was I hyperbolic last night? Maybe. High on sleep deprivation and the joy of actually watching a Dr Who episode that was bloody good, and none of the fuckawful over-egged mawkishness that RTD had been inflicting on audiences (Voyage of the c**ting Damned... yes, I'm still pissed off about that... the thing was so bloody saccharine and camply OTT I was checking the end credits to make sure it hadn't been written by Rodgers and fucking Hammerstein...) I actually enjoyed the episode, and rediscovered in it the qualities that I'd loved in the series as a kid.

Actually, I LIKE the fact that Matt Smith's a bit 'odd-looking', rather than the latest hot male lead. One thing I always liked about Who was that the Dr was a leading role for a character actor. Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee- all actually fantastic actors (Troughton especially) but never the kind who got cast as the male lead. And of course, my all-time favourite, the wonderful Tom Baker...

Because the Dr was never a conventional hero. As Caroline said above, he tended to try and solve problems with his head, not his fists, or with a gun. He was never an absolute pacifist but violence was always the last resort. So it's nice to get some of that quality back.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 12:08 am:   

Fave line from that episode:

'Twelve years. Twelve years and four psychiatrists.'
'Four psychiatrists?'
'I kept biting them.'


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Nathaniel Tapley (Natt)
Username: Natt

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 89.243.38.100
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 03:02 am:   

Although I'd have to rewatch this to check (and that is never going to happen), my recollection of what was wrong with Voyage of the Damned was not campness or saccharinitude but rather that everyone kept sacrificing themselves to save the Doctor.

If your hero allows half of the characters in a story to be killed in order that he can make it to the end then he is no longer the hero. He's just an idiot.

And I always got the feeling in RTD's stories that all ancillary characters were cannon-fodder whose only purpose was to set up mawkish or dramatically incoherent moments of 'spectacle' (or 'loudness'). Like at the end of The Waters of Mars when a character commits suicide just to prove a point to the Doctor.

And he needed to learn to make up new names. When you end up fighting the Daleks with a conference call between Ianto Jones, Martha Jones, Harriet Jones, Mickey Smith, and a computer called Mister Smith you need to learn some more surnames.

Favourite line:

"We're doing a special on television faults in this area. Also, crimes."
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 08:46 am:   

Nat- that didn't help either. I think your third paragraph does a better job of nailing what pissed me off than I did. Not to mention the part where one character grabbed a kiler robot round the waist, then gave a speech that seemed to last about half an hour before jumping to her death and dragging the robot after her. While the robot just stands there like a lemon and does nothing. Grr...

Pretty much the only remotely worthwhile thing you could do with a DVD of VOTD (apart from using it as a frisbee) is to play a game where you have a drink every time the Doctor shouts that he's not going to lose anyone else. Followed by another each time one of them dies. But no- that would actually mean watching the fekking thing again. Anyone for a game of frisbees instead?
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Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 10:08 am:   

"Caroline, I hope there's more alien planet adventures too. Tennant's Doctor spent too much time on earth."

I don't mind him spending so much time on Earth, so long as he stops spending so much of it in Cardiff.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 11:36 am:   

I watched the first two series of the new 'Doctor Who' religiously - preferred Ecclestone to Tennant (more intense and believable in the role though still far from perfect casting).

Then I started missing occasional episodes of Series 3 as the shine started to go off Tennant & RTD for me - it was moving further away from what DW "should be" in my world view and I never got into the whole 'Torchwood'/'Sarah Jane' spin-off thing.

Apart from a couple of episodes (liked 'The Waters Of Mars') and the final (pretty dire) two-parter I missed nearly all of Series 4 and wasn't overly bothered.

With Matt Smith & Steven Moffat at the helm - and the first episode a success - I'll be back watching or taping religiously every Saturday again. 'Doctor Who' is back on track and I'm well chuffed to see it!
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 01:35 pm:   

>>"Caroline, I hope there's more alien planet adventures too. Tennant's Doctor spent too much time on earth."

I don't mind him spending so much time on Earth, so long as he stops spending so much of it in Cardiff.<<

I did notice from the trailer after this first story that one of the upcoming ones seems to be set at Stonehenge. Ancient sites of this kind often spawn excellent stories.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.155.110.252
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 03:54 pm:   

>>I don't mind him spending so much time on Earth, so long as he stops spending so much of it in Cardiff<<

And when he's not on Earth I hope we don't see anymore adventures on the 'Future Zone' set of Richard O'Brien's The Crystal Maze. There were just too many generic spaceship interiors/corridors/cargo bays for me all through Tenant's episodes.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.121.214.11
Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - 05:28 pm:   

I want to know why the dalek in the trailers has a union flag under it's eye stalk...

And River Song is back in the weeping angels two parter. Things are really looking up imo.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.109.138.106
Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 12:35 am:   

Well, I just re-watched and my suspicions have been confirmed... Matt Smith IS the Doctor.

I am in geek heaven.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.155.110.252
Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 11:01 pm:   

>>And River Song is back in the weeping angels two parter. Things are really looking up imo.<<

Yep. I loved the weeping angels in the episode 'Blink'. Quite a frightening concept that. Something that can only move when you aren't looking at it. In fact, it reminds me of the only Looney Tunes cartoon that actually unsettled me as a kid. The one where Sylvester is laid up in hospital with a broken leg and the bulldog is also bedridden across from him (Sylvester's fault) with a rather wicked grin on his face. Sylvester is terrified the dog will come over and clobber him while he sleeps so he tries his best to stay awake all night. Little granny nurse, unfortunately for Sylv, administers some sedative and his eyelids begin to gradually droop. We see from Sylv's POV. Each time Sylvester realises and snaps open his heavy lids the dog is a few feet closer with a large bat and a psychotic grin all over his face. Funny and scary all at once ! imo.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.176.102.176
Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 11:30 pm:   

Bit like this cat then!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muLIPWjks_M
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.47.23.254
Posted on Saturday, April 10, 2010 - 08:10 pm:   

Dr Who is working well in my house. My 11 year old loves it. Matt Smith is a good/weird doctor and he actually looks the part.

Next week we get WW2 daleks and Winston Churchill. It is looking good.

The new assistant...well chosen. Works for me, too :>)
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Saturday, April 10, 2010 - 10:00 pm:   

Oooo, what did we think of the 2nd story then? I thought it was amazing. It went from scary, to sad, to beautiful. Wonderful stuff!

And you know I was moaning about the theme tune remix last week? Well, something strange happened this week. One of the things about the original theme tune (ie. the very first one) is that it used to give me a cold shudder and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - in a nice, scary-but-enjoyable kind of way. The funny thing is, following the introduction this week (a good scary one), I got that same shudder/tingle when the music started this time. Oh dear, that probably sounds really strange.

Matt Smith really IS brilliant as the Doctor. I guess he was of the generation where he missed out on Doctor Who as a kid, so he must have watched a heck of a lot of DVDs since landing the role in order to perfect it. He somehow seems to have encapsulated many of the previous Doctors' personas into his own portrayal of the Doc - something which I always felt Sylvester McCoy did too.

Looking forward to the daleks next week .. and now we know why they have a union flag under their eye stalks!
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.47.23.254
Posted on Saturday, April 10, 2010 - 10:45 pm:   

Khaki daleks..I can't stop giggling...from David Longhorn. It will be fine.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Saturday, April 10, 2010 - 10:45 pm:   

It was superb stuff indeed!

So much fresher than the last few Tennant series...Ok, so if you pulled the plot apart ..Yes, it had been done before, but not with this much verve, not for a long time.

Roll on next Saturday!:-)

gcw
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.45.75
Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 02:28 am:   

"Just checking all the water around here. There's an escaped fish."

The stories aren't particularly better, but the execution is so improved and that makes all the difference. It's 2/2 so far and next weeks looks like great fun. If anyone hasn't yet been to the cabinet war rooms, give them a visit - they're very atmospheric.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 05:26 am:   

Matt Smith's persona as the new Doctor is already complete - that episode was a pure joy. Wonderful stuff!
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.73
Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 09:14 am:   

Yup, I agree with Proto. The episode wasn't a million miles away from some of the dodgy New New York ones, but it was done far better than them. (Dodgy, cheap schoolroom set aside.) For a show with no real monsters, it fairly cantered along to a nice conclusion. (Pity it looks like they'll be going back there; leave well enough alone is usually a good rule to stick with.)
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 11:37 am:   

One complaint, a standard one. Overbearing & noisy music -give it a break!

gcw
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Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 12:06 pm:   

I'm not sure about the Doctor and Amy spending half the episode covered in sick. Ugh!

Would have been far better if Amy had had a shower to wash it all off - onscreen of course (purely for continuity reasons).
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.72
Posted on Sunday, April 11, 2010 - 12:32 pm:   

I bet the SNP loved last night's episode. Moffat's Scottish, of course. There'll be complaints, showing that episode during a General Election.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 12:07 am:   

I always seem to end up watching it days later on iPlayer... but yes, loved it. Nice mix of menace, humour and pathos... edged a little bit too close to the mawkish preachiness of RTD at his worse in the climactic scene, but not unforgivably so.

Agree totally about the music from Murray 'Donkey-Tromboner' bloody Gold. I'm tending to agree with Hitler's line in the YouTube clip Stu posted: 'Any Who soundtrack not influenced by Musique Concrete should be banned!'
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 12:13 am:   

And 'The Mankind version of the theme tune would be better than that cheesy hack! We can aim hire than a sub John Williams impersonator surely for f**k sake Stephen!'

And yes, Karen Gillan's gorgeous. But you're grown men now, fellas, so please stop drooling! I'm a pervert on a galactic scale (just ask Zed) but it's getting embarrassing.

(You're right about that shower scene though Finchy)
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 12:14 am:   

'higher', not 'hire'. Go to bed, Simon.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 11:55 am:   

>>And yes, Karen Gillan's gorgeous. But you're grown men now, fellas, so please stop drooling! I'm a pervert on a galactic scale (just ask Zed) but it's getting embarrassing.<<

Oh I don't know, I'm finding the sight of all this testosterone floating about quite amusing!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 01:07 pm:   

I agree the overbearing "incidental" music is the one truly bad element of the new 'Doctor Who'. It always has me gritting my teeth during the chase sequences in particular. I also wish they would tone down the naff CGI effects.

But everything else in the show is now so RIGHT that even these annoyances can't ruin the fun. The on-screen chemistry between Matt Smith & Karen Gillan, in just these two episodes, already makes it feel like we've known them for far longer.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.153.165.58
Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 09:51 pm:   

The jury is still out for me as far as Matt Smith goes. At the moment I still feel David Tenant is the better actor and played the role perfectly. Apart from the final scenes and a few others he was great over his entire run. He had some naff scripts to work with but I feel he nailed 'The Doctor'. Matt Smith IS different in a few ways and so he should be but I have yet to see anything that genuinely excites me about him. Maybe it's early days.
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.210.209.136
Posted on Saturday, April 17, 2010 - 12:40 am:   

Tiny points and references in Moffatt's writing in the first two episodes leave RTD's work far behind, in my opinion. I'm excited by the direction it's taking.
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Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains)
Username: Johnny_mains

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 82.22.70.137
Posted on Saturday, April 17, 2010 - 08:47 pm:   

third episode - worst one yet. different coloured daleks...oooh - more money to be made from the toys...

someone was asleep at the wheel with this one.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Saturday, April 17, 2010 - 10:11 pm:   

>>someone was asleep at the wheel with this one.<<

Totally agree, Johnny. Very poor, this one - particularly surprising as it was written by Mark Gatiss. The storyline was corny and twee, the characters stereotyped - and multi-coloured daleks!!?! Argh!! (you're right about more money to be made from the toys - I hadn't thought of it that way)

Still, I guess there are always duff stories in every incarnation of the Doctor. Two out of three ain't bad, as the song goes. Weeping angels next week. Let's hope that picks things back up again.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.95.40
Posted on Saturday, April 17, 2010 - 10:51 pm:   

Yeah, that was surprisingly a stinker. No real content, just runnnig about and music. I hate the Ikea daleks (iDaleks?).
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.181.93
Posted on Sunday, April 18, 2010 - 04:04 pm:   

Glad people aren't keen on this epidosde, I was worried that I'd be the only one.

Random thoughts (loads of spoilers if you haven't already watched the episode):

The Ironsides are Churchill's secret weapons to win the war and the best use he can put them to is running about his base carrying boxfiles and making cups of tea?

How did the daleks know Churchill would call the Doctor if Churchill didn't suspect the daleks of anything? I think Churchill said something about being thinking they were too good to be true when he called the Doctor but that still suggests that the daleks were relying on pot luck for him to phone the TARDIS.

Why does Churchill even have a phone for the Doctor? Especially if the Doctor keeps telling him, "No, sorry, you're going to have to win WWII by yourself." And what happened to the phone after the war? Why aren't all subsequent PMs constantly on the blower to the Doctor? And why is the Doctor not allowed to medddle in Earth history when he constantly buggers about with events on other planets? Just once I'd like him to land on Planet Zog and say, "Oh, it's the war where the Giant Space Spiders get defeated by the Insect Repellent Robots. Can't do anything to change that outcome."

"Broadsword calling Danny Boy." Been watching Where Eagles Dare have we?

The jammy dodger scene was surely a homage to the scene in The Face of Evil where Tom Baker threatens to kill someone using a jelly baby.

So how exactly did the Spitfires fly in space AND get fitted out with laser cannons in 90 seconds flat?

Why did the daleks fit their continuum bomb with a countdown? Especially one that can be over-ridden by their robot mole experiencing emotion?

"Have you ever fancied someone you shouldn't have?" No! Amy is not going to fall in love with the Doctor! No, no, no, no, no!

The scene where plucky British troops erect the flag in victory just like in Owa Jima. Um, that's an American image, not British. And it was in the Pacific theatre, not Europe.

Still, full marks for making a story about the Blitz on its 70th anniversary. Even if the story was completely naff.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.182.229.104
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 01:01 am:   

"Broadsword calling Danny-boy"!
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Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 11:28 am:   

I would agree that this episode was disappointing, especially as the trailer made it look superb.

If the new Dr Who has any fundamental weakness, it seems to be an over-reliance on one-episode stories. I know the old series was often criticised for padding things out - I'm sure I remember one Jon Pertwee episode that was literally a single chase sequence - but, as Stu says, there was a lot of detail missed out on this one that would have benefited the story hugely if it had been woven in somewhere. I also think that, for what was essentially a high concept story, it lacked any real point (apart from to re-design the Daleks - yep Johnny, merchandising!!!) and it ended with a bit of a damp squib.

Not my favourite Dalek tale, and one that I was really looking forward to.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 12:07 pm:   

I only got to see 'Doctor Who' last night and after a quick scan through the reactions here I'm relieved to know it wasn't just me was taken aback by how bloody awful it was.

The story made no logical sense - the Daleks acted completely out-of-character - the new, and completely unnecessary, Dalek design replaced the sublime with the ridiculous (like something a 5 year old would have dreamt up) - since when did Winston (bloody) Churchill have a direct hotline to the Tardis? - Spitfires flying through space might be a beautiful image but you have to bloody well explain how such a thing is possible - if I see one more Union Jack wafting beautifully in the breeze or plastered over the side of a spaceship or stuck on a Dalek I will puke (the UK is not the USA for feck sake!) - one of my favourite actors, Bill Paterson, was made to look like a buffoon - the ending just happened to throw in a planet destroying bomb (as an afterthought) that negated the need for subterfuge in the rest of the episode and made the whole thing look half-baked (that's me being kind) - and, potentially most harmful, for the first time Matt Smith's cockiness came across as irritatingly smarmy.

Everything about 'Victory Of The Daleks' was badly misjudged and I only hope this aberration turns out a forgiveable lapse of quality in the process of reinvention rather than the shape of things to come...
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 12:12 pm:   

Why did he not just put the human bomb on the tardis and drop him quickly into the dalek spaceship before it flew away? It would have made much more sense.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 12:14 pm:   

And that wasn't a jammy dodger, it was a foxes jam ring. A jammy dodger has a heart shape on it.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 07:58 pm:   

Bollocks...But bugger me, it was fun bollocks!

The line. "Would you like some TEA!!" nearly made me piss myself with laughter - great!

It was corny, naff, rushed...And yet, I liked it...it kinda reminded me of those naff yet strangely loveable stories like 'Horns Of Nimon'.

Felt like nobody was taking it too seriously, which I can understand a lot of people not liking, but I kinda dug it.

Bit worried about Amy Pond though, sure, she's a Star Stunna, but I she irritated me a little this week.

Hey ho, on we go to Weeping Angels...

gcw
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.182.229.104
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010 - 08:08 pm:   

I still preferred it to the Titanic Christmas episode, for all its faults.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.131.109.189
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 07:36 am:   

GCW - I love you!
I watched that ep with my family and kids and I think it helps that I always do. There's a certain kind of entertainment - i.e. Saturday night stuff - that is improved by the presence of kids, and Who is certainly it. This ep had loads of faults but it was still rollicking fun for the most part. I think I clinched it for my self by being reminded of all things by Wallace and Gromit - this had precisely the tone of the Wrong Trousers, and was just as fun.
Yes, the 'tea' line. Fantastic.
I think I've said this before but we forget that Who has to be varied to survive, and sometimes it hurts to see something we love being so unashamedly daft and irreverent. We think it's broken when really all it's doing is being an ep for for other members of it's audience but yourself.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 08:37 am:   

Mick- I think major surgery without an anaesthetic would possibly be better than that Titanic episode. When putting Kylie Minogue in a French maid's outfit can't actually distract me from how shite something is, it's really got to be bad.

Haven't watched this episode yet, and while I've managed not to read any of the above comments, I'm not sure I want to, as there seems to be a general buzz that this sucked. I mean- new Dr= good, new assistant= good. New Dr + New Assistant + Daleks + WW2 + Mark Gatiss = great, surely? Except apparently not.

My neighbour has seen it, and commented that the 'new look' Daleks look as though someone had taken a batch of Peugeot 106s and converted them into Daleks. The very fact of that someone seems to have thought they could improve on the shape brings with it the creeping conviction that no good can come of this. Oh well, I'll have to watch it and reserve judgement till then.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 11:45 am:   

Tony, I know where you're coming from but I have to disagree.

Any continuing story has to be true to its own internal logic and conventions otherwise anything goes and the whole thing ends up a mess with different interpretations every week taking it further and further from what drew us in in the first place. 'Doctor Who' is no exception.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 12:26 pm:   

The entire modern incarnation has been a mess - an often glorious mess, but a mess just the same.

And, hey, it's a kids' show. It's meant to be daft.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:05 pm:   

What I would love to see is Steven Moffat do an Alan Moore on 'Doctor Who' and completely reinvent the show by tying up all the loose ends and going further into the mythology of the Doctor than we have ever seen before (clever use of parallel universes could "make sense" of the many lapses in logic). The DC comic 'Swamp Thing' was in a similar state of glorious mess before Moore got his hands on it but then he is a genius...

Basically the show lost all cohesion under RTD's reign and there's never been a better opportunity to fix that than now - many more episodes like 'Victory Of The Daleks', however, and 'Doctor Who' will become a meaningless parody of itself forever and anon... this does matter imo.
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.74
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:22 pm:   

Ep 3 wasn't good. On the plus side, Churchill was good. And I've long wanted the daleks to get one over on the doc. I liked the hommage to the Peter Cushing movies - the pulsing tone when the old/new daleks were being created. Spitfires in space was potentially good. But if they're in a gravity bubble, what use propellors? Aside from that, the episode left the cast with little to do but try and rescue it. Even Bill Paterson struggled, appearing to think he was ina better episode than the one he actually was in.

And I think the new Daleks look like the Renault Megane, not the Peugeot 306. Sheesh.
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.74
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:24 pm:   

Oh, and while I enjoy WHO, I have to say that the glossy US SF dramas make it look very cheap indeed. I watched the opening episode of the remake of V on Sky3 this weekend and though it wasn't great, it sure as heck wasn't cheap.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.180.19
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:29 pm:   

>>And, hey, it's a kids' show. It's meant to be daft.

I'd argue that it's a family show. There's a difference. Although Moffatt does seem to be using his expertise from his days helming teen comedy-drama Press Gang.

>>this had precisely the tone of the Wrong Trousers, and was just as fun.

I loved The Wrong Trousers but was severely disappointed with Victory of the Daleks. TWT is a comedy, VOTD is (supposedly) a drama. Okay, it's a family drama but it's still a drama.

>>What I would love to see is Steven Moffat do an Alan Moore on 'Doctor Who' and completely reinvent the show by tying up all the loose ends and going further into the mythology of the Doctor than we have ever seen before (clever use of parallel universes could "make sense" of the many lapses in logic).

Apparently there's some online fanboy speculation that Moffatt may have just such a plan in mind.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.180.19
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:32 pm:   

Are the multi-coloured daleks taken from the Peter Cushing films? And the St John ambulance badge on the TARDIS door, has that always been there or is that from the films as well?
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 81.129.143.153
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:38 pm:   

Yes, that "oh but you should remember the daleks, Amy" is a bit of a hint that something like that is on the way.

I don't know, but parallel universes just seems too much like the modern equivalent of "and with one mighty bound---he was FREE!" get-out clause to me.

Mark S.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.180.19
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:41 pm:   

Cracks in space-time mentioned in every episode. Could be leading somewhere.

And according to wikipedia the St John Ambulance badge was used during the Hartnell era.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 81.129.143.153
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:49 pm:   

I'll tell you now how they'll eventually get rid of Amy Pond in a big series end-of tear-jerker. This series is in a parallel universe and finally in the "correct" one, she does end up waiting for the Doctor who actually doesn't appear, leaving the poor child bereft.

Pass the hankies round.

Mark S.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 81.129.143.153
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:54 pm:   

But wait! It's not all bad: because despite not meeting the Doctor she does get married (bridal dress in the close) ... in the "correct" world.

I tell you, that Doctor: he's such a bastard.

Bloody Timelords. Leaving broken hearts all over the dimensions.

Mark S.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 81.129.143.153
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 01:55 pm:   

Closet rather than close. Ooops.

Mark S.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.131.109.189
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 03:19 pm:   

Pond has a kid in ep six and misses the doc for another six years or so. Bet she has to leave it behind somehow.
Oh, I was a bit gushing in my response above. Think I just felt sorry for it and wanted to defend the things it got right (there were a few).
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 10:26 pm:   

"GCW - I love you!"

Love you too Tony:-) - Gimme some skin - Alriiiiide!

gcw
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Thursday, April 22, 2010 - 10:22 pm:   

OK... having now watched it on iPlayer, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. After the Peugeot 106 remark I was dreading something a lot worse than what we got. That said, after a two-minute honeymoon period of 'that's not so bad' I concluded that whoever designed the 'new Dalek paradigm' is right beside Murray Gold tromboning the hell-donkeys. Or possibly tromboning Murray Gold...

Anyway.

Good points- there were some. I actually rather liked the jammy-dodger bit, 'would you like some TEA?', Bil Paterson (always good), especially: 'but I made you!' 'No. We made you', and yes, the Spitfires in space. Especially 'Broadsword calling Danny Boy.'

Bad points... Ian McNiece- wonderful actor but chronically miscast as Churchill. He just didn't convince in the role. The Iwo Jima-esque flag-raising scene. The over-egged emotionality of the bomb-defusing scene, and indeed much else besides. And, yes, the new fucking Dalek paradigm. Please god, let this be the Windows Vista of Dalek design- a supposed step-up that's a complete fucking disaster that gets scrapped to be replaced by the earlier mark. Or at least a new design that doesn't look like something that should be used in the ad-breaks on Channel 4 on Sundays.

Scuse me French. Rant over. Back to real life. Weeping angels on Saturday...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.82.246
Posted on Friday, April 23, 2010 - 12:28 am:   

"Back to real life."

Yeah.

"Weeping angels on Saturday..."

That didn't last long.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.165.4
Posted on Friday, April 23, 2010 - 12:39 am:   

Yeah, I thought that as soon as I read the post again... my kingdom for an edit button.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Friday, April 23, 2010 - 10:47 am:   

I watched it the other night. Fluffy nonsense, but I actually thought the new Daleks were very cool - particularly the orange one.

The episode was a good idea that was badly realised, IMHO.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.121.214.11
Posted on Friday, April 23, 2010 - 02:57 pm:   

Apparently the different colour of new Dalek designates it's role. One is the leader, then there's a drone/soldier dalek, a scientist, one I can't remember and an Eternal - although even Moffat claims not to know what the score is with that one yet.

Why didn't he just load the human/robot bomb onto the Tardis, and drop the bomb in the dalek spaceship before it took off again?

As for the Daleks behaving out of character, it's not the first time they've disguised themselves as subservient slave robots. They did it in the very first Patrick Troughton adventure - so there is a precedent set.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, April 23, 2010 - 03:17 pm:   

That's the way it was in the classic years of 'Doctor Who' with each colour of Dalek denoting a different rank - something I always regretted they let slide. The new design is still shit though!
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.121.214.11
Posted on Friday, April 23, 2010 - 03:42 pm:   

Well they're bigger than they used to be - and they have an eye visible at the end of the eye-stalks, which I think is a cool touch.

I think the Tardis is what's causing all these cracks in time. It's still malfunctioning, he can't get anywhere on time -it was a month after WC phoned him that he landed back on earth, the whole plot of ep one hung on him saying he'd be 5 minutes and taking years, just look out a comment about "what took you so long" in the next episode.

I don't know where he's going with the idea, but it certainly has potential.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, April 24, 2010 - 09:51 pm:   

Now that was more like it!!

Everything clicked perfectly this week and several sequences of that episode had my heart going a dinger and my hands gripping the arms of the chair... 'Doctor Who' hasn't affected me like that since I was a kid! Absolutely bloody brilliant!! I can't wait till next week... hey, just like the good old days!!
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Saturday, April 24, 2010 - 10:47 pm:   

Yes, it was a bloody good one wasn't it?

Another side to the coin after the campy fun of last week.

gcw
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 10:22 am:   

"The eyes are not the window to the soul, they're the door. Be careful what you let walk through it."

What a f***ing brilliant line. One of the best episodes ever IMHO
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 10:36 am:   

THE best episode of the new incarnation bar none ... parts of it were genuinely terrifying and judging by the trailer Part 2 looks set to get even better!

I'm sure kids up and down the country will have been suffering nightmares all weekend after that one - just the way it should be!!
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.145.36.248
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 10:50 am:   

I liked the tiny Graham Norton cartoon character at the end.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 10:53 am:   

Yes, the most disturbing moment of the night!
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 193.109.254.19
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 12:30 pm:   

I liked the tiny Graham Norton cartoon character at the end.

Been a fair few folk who didn't! Over five thousand at the last count:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8643684.stm
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 01:50 pm:   

Oh dear, I think that's 5,000+ people who are taking it all a bit too seriously! It did make me laugh, I must admit. It's the way the cartoon Norton just kind of scuttled across the Doctor's face like an insect!

As for the episode, I think the jury's still out for me on that one. It was definitely better than the previous dalek story, but it didn't quite have that "wow" factor that the first two stories did IMHO. True, it was nice and tense - a very scary story - but is it just me or are the Doctor and Amy getting a little bit irritating? I can't quite put my finger on why, but I didn't find their characters as endearing as I did in the first two stories.

There were some great bits in this angels story though, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the original "Blink". But it was enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to the second part. It's great to have a cliffhanger - even if Graham Norton scuttles on and spoils the tension somewhat.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 03:05 pm:   

As great as the original 'Blink' was this episode, for me, took the concept onto a whole new scarier level, Caroline. I'm genuinely surprised you didn't like this one - I thought it was brilliantly structured, gripping and most of all truly frightening while the chemistry between the Doctor & Amy was just perfect - I'm growing to love Matt Smith's mannerisms (the silliness of last week aside).

I'd score the 4 eps so far: 7/10, 8/10, 5/10 & 10/10 - with that last one the best since the show was revived way back with Christopher Ecclestone. I haven't been this excited about a cliffhanger since my young teenage years!
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 03:14 pm:   

"If you want a chance to see tomorrow, there's one thing you don't put in a trap..."
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 03:26 pm:   

"If you want a chance to see tomorrow, there's one thing you don't put in a trap..."
... the Doctor and a cartoon Graham Norton!

But seriously ...
It's not that I didn't like it, Stevie, I did - but it just didn't leave me with the same level of "early teens excitement" that the first two did. Perhaps the novelty of the new Doctor is wearing off for me? I don't know. I'm not really much of a New Who fan. I never got excited by the Ninth and Tenth Docs at all. It's still Classic Who for me. So it might just be that. It was a good story though. Perhaps when I see it as a whole, after the 2nd part, I'll feel more enthusiatic about it?

My scoring of the stories so far would be:
9/10, 10/10, 4/10, 7/10.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 81.129.143.153
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 03:30 pm:   

I agree with Caroline on this one. I must admit that some of the magic is in danger of wearing off.

I'm very dubious about this constant "I'm the MAN, I'm the DOCTOR, and the whole universe KNOWS IT" thing that's crept in of late.

Still, let's see what happens in part two.

Mark S.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 03:36 pm:   

Still the Classic years for me too, Caroline, with my ranking of the Doctors (above) staying the same - although I can now see Matt Smith jumping in front of Peter Davison as he continues to grow into the role. I liked the reliance on low-key atmospherics and suspense over tacky CGI effects in this week's episode.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 03:49 pm:   

Best use of sound so far this series as well.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 08:25 pm:   

Oh, forgot to mention .. just going slightly OT, though this is still about Doctor Who. If anyone fancies going to a con in Manchester this Sunday then see here:

http://www.fanslikeus.org.uk/fabcafe3booking.html

I hope to be there myself!
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 09:57 am:   

If you're in Manchester this weekend, watch out for a large group of naked people. Spencer Tunick is in town doing 8 installations over Saturday and Sunday. Locations are top secret and even the first aid staff (including me) have no idea where we're going after the meeting point at the Lowry at 4am.

Sorry to go off topic.

cazza - Email me with your mobile number and I can let you know where they are if you're interested.
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Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts)
Username: Tom_alaerts

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.78.35.185
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 02:06 pm:   

Only yesterday evenng I managed to see the latest episode.
I liked it a lot. I already loved "Blink" and this story seems even better.

Am I the only one who thinks that the Angel in the video screen had something of the unstoppable Sadako from Ringu in it?
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 02:45 pm:   

Spoilers spoilers spoilers

No, I thought that as well, but it didn't stop it being one of the scariest things they've ever done on Dr Who. Especially with the very subtle changes in posture first before it started walking toward the screen.

I especially loved how underplayed the whole "How did you escape Bob" conversation was. Telling us he'd has his neck broken in the same tone as you'd say you'd had chicken for dinner was more frightening than any amount of hysteria like we'd have had from an RTD script.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 03:15 pm:   

And the way they took the horror of Sadako one step further by having it enter Amy's eye (shudder).

I hope stories like this introduce the pleasure of having to wait a whole week for resolution to a whole new generation and in some way helps to alleviate the need for instant gratification that is blighting so much of modern society - the antics of that cartoon Graham Norton being a case in point...
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 03:46 pm:   

OK, you guys are making me think I've perhaps been a little too hasty in saying this story wasn't one of the best. I guess I'll have to take another look.

I absolutely agree that the subtlety thing is great to see and makes a refreshing change.

Weber - re: "If you're in Manchester this weekend, watch out for a large group of naked people. Spencer Tunick is in town doing 8 installations over Saturday and Sunday. Locations are top secret and even the first aid staff (including me) have no idea where we're going after the meeting point at the Lowry at 4am."

What ever makes you think I'd be interested in seeing a lot of naked people? But seriously, those kinds of "art" things aren't my cup of tea at all. I'm an anorak - I'd rather be meeting Colin Baker and Nicholas Courtney than bothering with that kind of thing. However, I'm sure I'll keep my eyes peeled for any naked bodies on my way from the station to the venue!
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 04:40 pm:   

OK caroline, I'll text you with the locations as I know them.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 04:41 pm:   

Whoops! that should have been a reply to your email. Sorry.
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Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts)
Username: Tom_alaerts

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.78.35.185
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 05:16 pm:   

Unfortunately, most people look better with rather than without clothes...
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 05:20 pm:   

Speak for yourself!
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 06:44 pm:   

Weber, you're being very, very naughty! I haven't emailed you with my mobile number so how can you text me the locations? Your're trying to make everyone here think I'm secretly wanting to see all these naked people!

I've told you, I'll only have eyes for Colin Baker and Nick Courtney this weekend (both fully clothed, I hope). Oh, and the guy who wears the rubber monster suit - Alan Ruscoe.

By the way, as a first aider at this art thingy, do you have to go naked too? But I guess not as you'd have nowhere to hang your first aid kit ...
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 06:45 pm:   

Ooops, too many Rs in your're! I reckon it's because Weber's trying to make me think about naked people.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 10:13 am:   

Your're trying to make everyone here think I'm secretly wanting to see all these naked people!


Are you accusing me of being sneaky, devious and cruel?
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 12:42 pm:   

"Are you accusing me of being sneaky, devious and cruel?"

Yup .. but quite funny too.
(that's funny=humorous by the way, not funny=peculiar. Oh, I dunno, maybe I mean both! )
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 03:06 pm:   

For the record, I would like to state that Caroline did not, I repeat not, she definitely did NOT email me with her mobile number so I could text her the locations of the 500 naked people at the weekend. Honest.

She absolutely genuinely did not email me saying “I know I’ve said on the board that I’m not interested but here’s my number, let me know so I can be there with my camera” or any words to that effect.

She really truly didn’t. Why would she? Honest she didn’t. Promise. Scouts honour, she really didn’t.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 07:58 pm:   

Weber! You promised me you'd keep our little secret. Now then, you know what I do to naughty little boys like you, don't you?

*Caz sharpens hacksaw blade and makes sure chains are nice and tight*
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.152.191.247
Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 12:52 am:   

I'd like to see an army of naked people...
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.210.209.136
Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 01:07 am:   

How many Privates would there be in an army of naked people?
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.158.58.169
Posted on Saturday, May 01, 2010 - 08:15 pm:   

"If I always told the truth, there would be no need to tell you to trust me."
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Saturday, May 01, 2010 - 09:55 pm:   

Brilliant stuff tonight.

gcw
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 02:15 am:   

Absolutely brilliant!!

Looks like all the loose ends and continuity lapses from the RTD era are being cleaned up by "time being rewritten" rather than "clever use of parallel universes" - don't ya just love sci-fi. Once again the restraint shown in this episode was its most impressive feature.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 10:39 am:   

It was pretty good, but nowhere near as good as BLINK. Why did the angels suddenly start strangling people instead of displacing them in time? They were much less scary here - much more of a conventional monster.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.143.129.110
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 11:00 am:   

I think it was because they were at the end of time or something, and that everything was already in the past. I think.
But Moffatt said himself that this was like Aliens to Alien what this was to Blink, maybe with all that implies.
My huge fear is that Moffatt has been diluted with having to do a full series. Still bloody good, though, generally. Smith is wonderful.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 11:16 am:   

I don't think there is anything to fear at this point Tony, the series has had a real fresh reboot and all that later Tennant era stodge has been flushed away.

Amy was superb this week, I was a little worried she was going to become annoying, but she seemed to step back in this episode, like she felt real threat for the first time.

The last scene with Octavian & the Doctor just about sums up why I hugely prefer this series to the last few...the Doctor didn't go 'I'm SEWWWWWW SOWWWWWY' in that excrutiating way. The scene was brilliantly underplayed.

gcw
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.143.129.110
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 11:18 am:   

This is true. And is it me, or does Smith *feel* alien? A doc hasn't done that since Tom.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 11:28 am:   

Smith is massively hit-and-miss for me. Great in the first ep., bad in the next ones, and then great in this latest ep. He's good when he remembers that he isn't meant to be doing a David Tennant impression.

And that near-shagging bit at the end felt really forced to me; like something RTD would have put in (and been slated for).

Overall, though, it was all very entertaining.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.158.58.169
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 11:45 am:   

Dr Who last night (as I recall him saying):
"If I always told the truth, there would be no need to tell you to trust me."
Gordon Brown after Bigotgate?
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.31.165.34
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 12:41 pm:   

I didn't watch it.

Ashes to Ashes if great, tho.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 79.64.121.35
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 01:09 pm:   

Ashes to Ashes is just about the best prog at the moment.

And I'm enjoyng Dr Who.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 01:50 pm:   

I think Ashes to Ashes is rubbish. But I didn't like Life on Mars either. I think I'm in a minority here, though...
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.182.229.104
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 01:54 pm:   

I loved Life on Mars, but gave up on Ashes to Ashes after the second episode.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.27.24.181
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 01:55 pm:   

>>And that near-shagging bit at the end felt really forced to me; like something RTD would have put in (and been slated for).

Yeah, it was like Moffat had a flashback to when he was writing Coupling. The scene's only saving grace was that the Doctor pointed out all the reasons that he shouldn't shag his companions. RTD never understood that.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.27.24.181
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 02:01 pm:   

Life on Mars never lived up the hype for me. I'm glad it was made and that people liked it but for me it never fufilled its potential.

Ashes to Ashes started off as being even worse; it was so bad that I didn't even make it to the end of the first series. But after skipping series two I stumbled aross series three and am quite enjoying it. I think it's a combination of the writers raising their game and my having lowered my expectations.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.158.58.169
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 02:21 pm:   

My take on LIFE ON MARS from 3 years ago;
http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/life_on_mars.htm
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.109.163.85
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 02:31 pm:   

Liked Life on Mars, but when they started to make Gene Hunt the hero, it really lost the point for me. That style of policing shouldn't be celebrated. Also the female lead in Ashes to Ashes isn't brilliant. Watched the first series of that and thought that the twist at the end was clever, but the rest was way too self-indulgently blokey and blinkered to the horrors that went in 70s and 80s policing, that I just didn't feel the need to watch the second series.

WHO was just wonderful last night.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 02:49 pm:   

Zed, I'm another one who couldn't understand the whole fuss surrounding 'Life On Mars' and its sequel... gave up after a few episodes as it felt forced and gimmicky to me. But then I'm just about the biggest 'Sweeney' fan on the planet - bloody love that show!
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.27.24.181
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 02:51 pm:   

One thing with series 3 of Ashes to Ashes is that the writers are hinting that Hunt may have killed Sam Tyler in the gap between LoM and AtA. A senior CID officer is investigating him and the writers and actors are doing quite a good job of making both Hunt and his nemesis seem simulataneously sympathetic yet sinister so you don't know who to root for. It'll probably all fizzle out in the final episode but right now it's quite enjoyable.

Although I haven't really given any thought to how Ashes to Ashes might tie up all its loose ends a couple of hints have me worried that they're going to use the same ending as the US version of Life on Mars. Hopefully these hints are just a red herring.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.207.195
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 04:04 pm:   

I thought the two weeping angels eps were "meh". Moffat repeats the mistakes he made on the two-parter set in the library: unnecessarily long and complicated and, worst of all, so much "telling" rather than "showing").
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.25.48.139
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 06:59 pm:   

Offhand I'd say that although Moffatt repeated some of the mistakes from the library story the weeping angels two-parter was much tighter. Not perfect but not quite so busy or pleased with itself.

Didn't like the fact that we saw the angels moving though. Much creepier when its that creepy stop-motion effect. Also, either Moffatt or the director didn't seem to quite grasp the way the angels work. There was a shot in episode one where a soldier (Bob?) walks by without looking at two angels standing in the background. The angels don't move but if he's not looking at them then they should have been on him in seconds.

Also, not convinced the idea of shutting off Amy's vision centres by her shutting her eyes makes sense. Shutting her eyes just stops light hitting her eyes and sending signals to her visual cortices to rearrange the signals as an image of the angel --but that's only if the angel is still standing in front of her which it wasn't. So presumably the image is now stored somewhere in her brain and will still be there whether her eyes are open or not.

But even with the niggles this was still better than Victory of the Daleks.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.25.48.139
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 07:34 pm:   

I didn't notice this until someone pointed it out but when the Doctor does his "I need you to trust me" speech he's wearing his jacket even though he had previously lost it to the angels. The jacket vanishes again after the scene ends. Unless this is a continuity error -- and I'm guessing that it's not -- this suggests that the Doctor came back in time to talk to Amy. This would explain why it felt slightly jarring when he decides to hang back and have a chat with Amy after he's already rushed off with River.

And the conversation he has with Amy whilst wearing his jacket:

"Remember what I told you when you were seven?"
"What did you tell me?"
"No ... no, that's not the point. You have to remember."

More timey-wimey stuff coming up methinks.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.31.165.34
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 08:00 pm:   

(Stuart, did you get my email?)
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 81.100.117.217
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 09:41 pm:   

Gary, read the email this morning. Currently kicking around a few ideas to see if they're workable.
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Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts)
Username: Tom_alaerts

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 87.65.75.107
Posted on Sunday, May 02, 2010 - 11:06 pm:   

I quite liked this episode even if it didn't live up to the first half (and even less so the previous Blink, which was one of the very best Dr Who episodes I ever saw). I wouldn't mind the angels turning up again in the next season.

Also looking forward to the vampiric upcoming episode next week...
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, May 03, 2010 - 03:25 pm:   

I've not watched the second episode of the weeping angels story yet, but I realised yesterday that a Doctor Who convention isn't the place to be the day after the night of a screening that you haven't watched yet! There was much talk - and general dislike - of the "snogging bit" (comment from Sarah Sutton: "They just didn't do that kind of thing in my day!"), but a general thumbs-up for Matt Smith's Doctor overall so far.

I'll have to watch this episode later.

Re Ashes to Ashes, I loved the original Life on Mars, but wasn't sure a sequel was a good idea as I thought the concept had run its course. I tried part of the first series of Ashes to Ashes, but that confirmed my fears, so I haven't watched it since. Besides, the 70s was more "my" era music-wise; most music in the 80s grates on my old eardrums.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, May 04, 2010 - 02:45 pm:   

Well, I watched it last night. It was OK - a good story - but it still didn't have that "wow" factor for me which the first two did I'm afraid.

This whole series is looking very promising though. I'm definitely enjoying it. And Matt Smith's Doctor is superb - just as "alien" as Tom Baker, as someone above said I think.

But Amy did get a bit carried away, didn't she? I mean, she virtually ripped his braces off! Call me an old fuddy-duddy but I really don't see any need for that in DW.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.132.173.248
Posted on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 11:01 am:   

Me! I said it!
I love agreeing. Especially when people do it with me.
These two eps could have been one, and they could have given the free time and space to the Dalek ep, which needed it (so much more happened in Blink - it felt like a full movie, that one).
But yeah, sex and Who don't mix, at least not outside the mind's eye.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.132.173.248
Posted on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 11:02 am:   

But yes, I love Smith. He's like no actor around.

Anyone else watch Glee? I LOVE Glee. So affecting.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Wednesday, May 05, 2010 - 02:34 pm:   

>>Me! I said it!<<

Sorry, Tony, I thought it was you, but I was too knackered at the time to look through all the posts again to see if it was. I definitely wanted to acknowledge you by name, rather than just "someone", so please forgive me.

>> ..sex and Who don't mix, at least not outside the mind's eye.<<

Superb comment!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, May 08, 2010 - 09:05 pm:   

Bugger, I missed 'Doctor Who' this evening! When is it repeated?
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Saturday, May 08, 2010 - 09:17 pm:   

8pm tomorrow, Sunday, on BBC3, Stevie. I've recorded it to watch later.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, May 08, 2010 - 09:59 pm:   

Thanks, Caroline!
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 09:10 am:   

You didn't miss much. Very average, I thought.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.143.129.15
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 10:05 am:   

Yeah, it was, but also sort of hysterically funny. Some hilarious lines. And I loved the guy having to wear the 'Roy's Stag' sweater. But yeah, sadly RTD would have had a few more wowsers in the series by now, clumsy as he often was. I did laugh a lot at this one though, which came at the right time for me, and it might have had the Mattster's best performance yet; crap story, great Doc stuff.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.179.60.142
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 02:17 pm:   

Dear me, that was a poor episode.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.145.226.3
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 02:35 pm:   

Agree with Tony, really.

I liked the 1st Doctor library card visual gag and him being annoyed about that useless new bloke not saying "but it's bigger on the inside".

But the episode itself: unwashed pants.

Mark S.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.179.60.142
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 06:31 pm:   

Yeah, nice to see William Hartnell again!
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Matthew Fryer (Matthew_fryer)
Username: Matthew_fryer

Registered: 08-2009
Posted From: 90.202.180.84
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 06:43 pm:   

Not a great episode, but Matt Smith shone. His Doctor comes across in every little mannerism, and I'm glad they gave him some funny lines.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 10:01 pm:   

Well, I'm going to be a little bit different here - I really enjoyed it. True, it wasn't a brilliant story, but it had all the elements that *make* Doctor Who for me.

It had humour, scary bits [did anyone else think that bit with the "vampires" at the window was like that really scary bit in the TV movie of Salem's Lot where the vampire kids are scratching at the window?], and it also had some poignant moments. But most of all it had Matt Smith - I do think he's getting more "Doctor-like" with each story (except the dalek one where he was completely out of character). He really is like Tom Baker when he was at his best in the role.

Looking beyond some of the naff bits and thinking to myself, if I was a child again would I have enjoyed this? And the answer's a resounding "yes".
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.145.226.3
Posted on Sunday, May 09, 2010 - 10:37 pm:   

Hey, just seen what's on BBC2 tonight at 10.40pm.

Smashie and Nicey: the End of an Era.

Absolutely fantabulantastic televisual progamming, great mate.

(Erm and there's about 10 secs of the first Doctor in it too).

Mark S.
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.179.60.142
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 12:33 am:   

Missed it. I was watching the Rapture. Sorry, "The Rapture". On DVD.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 12:48 am:   

I think I'm just so over Dr Who now. Even my six year-old is getting bored with it (he loved watching Avatar today, though).
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.143.129.15
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 08:08 am:   

I love Smith but this series is a little odd, tonally. Also it feels like we're missing something all the time, like the series has had eps cut out. Feels like it's rushing. And I think Smith's first year shouldn't have been an 'arc' thing, just one-off adventures. And amy Pond is just too confident for me to worry about her. And... it's not been the string of doozies we expected from Moffatt. :-(
That said, we rewatched the Dalek ep again and it was great second time, just loads of fun.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.171.167.123
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 09:55 am:   

I sense that Dr Who in the last few years has become a self-conscious series of role-playing or computer games where the main protagonist characters seem to *know* they are safe (or immortal) within each episode or 'choose your own path to adventure' scenario - all artificially tied by a running image like 'bad wolf' or a crack in the wall type of thing.
The audience are expected to accept it in those terms and any suspension of disbelief is one that only the modern psyche (imbued with such 'games') can hope to manage.
The current shenanigans with the hung parliament is a similar at-one-remove fabrication - playing games with out material well-being by means of a sense of (false) impermeability.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.171.167.123
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 10:08 am:   

playing games with out material well-being by means of a sense of (false) impermeability.
============

that should read:

playing games with our material well-being by means of a sense of (false) impermeability or 'null immortalis'.
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Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 11:10 am:   

I still feel the biggest weakness of the new DR WHO era is the speed with which these storylines pass us by.

I know the show is now aimed at the 'computer game' generation, whose attention span seems to be microscopically short, but who may be retained for a little while if you wow them with visuals. But for me, very few of these ideas have been fully and satisfactorily developed.

It seems to be a case of: Dr and Assistant arrive; brief mystery emerges; baddies arrive; resolution - usually in short order.

The irony of course is that, the old six-parters and even the four-parters could rightly be accused of padding or dragging things out. But I still think they gave you more time to invest in the characters, the settings, the concepts, etc.

I suspect these series-long threads - cracks in time, Bad Wolf, whatever - are an attempt to counter that to some extent. But I know no fan who finds these threads as interesting as the individual parts. It may just be a personal thing, of course, in which case I'm at fault rather than the show, but for me it's worryingly reminiscent of shows like THE X-FILES or SUPERNATURAL (though I never took the latter too seriously to begin with), wherein the programme makers were clearly getting so involved with the over-arcing story that they began to neglect the original premise - i.e. a SERIES of adventures in the unreal.

I'm also going off the new girl a little bit. Great eye candy, but thus far she doesn't have much personality.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 11:22 am:   

Fish from space were never quite so Buxom...

I liked this one. The ending was rushed - the climbing up the clock tower seemed edited together too quickly and the CGI wasn't great, but other than that I thought it were good fun. Some cracking one liners and I actually do like the linking thread with the cracks in time.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.171.167.123
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 11:28 am:   

The last episode seemed to me -
hey gal, let's take your fiance and go for an adventure. I know, one about vampires - and wouldn't it be great to make the location Venice... change into your fish-net stockings, the skirt's just fine...
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 12:02 pm:   

By heck, that was poor.

Did anyone else get the impression that episode was kinda flung together from half-assed ideas that may have sounded good on paper but just didn't work on screen - the token vampire episode with a twist, as it were. Rushed, badly put together and with pitiful CGI effects - I mean the fish-things looked almost cute rather than scary and that bolloxed up ending... I actually cringed watching it the effects were so bad!!

This series is turning into a bit of a curate's egg so far: pretty good, very good, bloody awful, best episode since DW was rebooted, equally exceptional, pure rubbish. Whatever next?
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 12:22 pm:   

I think the series been consistently poor so far. They even made the weeping angels non-scary. It takes some talent to do that...
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 12:56 pm:   

Hmmm .. to borrow ideas from another thread here, do you think that maybe you guys are looking at DW through the eyes of an adult rather than adopting your childish (child-like?) personas?

I totally agree that the ending was naff and the CGI was awful, also that the fish things might have looked better had they been animatronic or even a man (or woman) in a suit, but things have changed in DW and these stories are aimed at kids TODAY, not yesterday's children like us.

I definitely prefer the classic series myself, but as a Doctor Who for TODAY, I think this is excellent.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.171.167.123
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 12:58 pm:   

Aimed at kids who like pellets of game.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 01:00 pm:   

Caroline - I really liked RTD's rebooted Dr Who, but to me this latest series just feels stale, clumsy and lacking in genuine creativity.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 01:03 pm:   

Nah, that two-part story was fucking brilliant and just what I've been waiting on from 'Doctor Who' but this week's was embarrassing by comparison. The quality control seems to be all over the place this series - from the sublime to the amateurish.

One thing's for sure, though, Matt Smith is the best Doctor since Tom Baker - a great performance. Got mixed feelings about Amy Pond so I'm reserving judgement just yet but her and the boyfriend didn't half grate in that last one.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 01:13 pm:   

I disagree totally - the two-parter was okay, but ruined a great idea (the weeping angels) for me. BLINK was a masterpiece by comparison.

Smith isn't very good. He has no gravitas, and we never feel that he's in danger. Tenant was much better, IMHO.

But I'm not really a DR Who "fan". I loved it as a kid (Pertwee and Baker), but was only drawn back recently with this reboot.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.171.167.123
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 01:41 pm:   

Matt Smith is a terrible Dr Who, to my mind. Someone from the Sixth Form acting the goat. I can understand he needs to be modern for modern viewers. But I'd draw the line at Prince Harry?

Pleased to see he carried a card with the original Dr Who on it (my Dr Who).
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 02:09 pm:   

Someone from the Sixth Form acting the goat

Ha, Des. But, yes, I can totally see where you're coing from with this. I agree.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 02:16 pm:   

The only thing I've found really disppointing this time round is the CGI.

I'm loving Matt Smith as the Doctor and I think Moffats scripts have been far better than anything RTD wrote (except the midnight episode which was entirely out of character for an RTD).

Next week's looks very interesting. the only thing I'm worried about is a Richard Curtis penned episode.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 03:07 pm:   

Ha! This is just like being at a Doctor Who convention - all the arguments about who's (sic) best and so on. I love it!

Now don't get me wrong - I still don't class myself as a NuWho fan. My heart will always be with *my* Doctors (Troughton from my first childhood, and McCoy from my second). But when it comes to bringing Who back for a new generation, this is great stuff IMHO.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, May 10, 2010 - 03:12 pm:   

Yeah, the CGI was never great in the new 'Doctor Who' but I've seen better quality CGI TV ads than some of the effects this series... like they've lowered the budget in that department or something and it doesn't half show. The two-parter stood out specifically because it didn't rely on effects but carefully constructed atmosphere and suspense.

Matt Smith is great as the Doctor, an inspired choice, and the only young actor so far to really grab the part and stamp his own identity on it IMHO.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, May 15, 2010 - 09:43 pm:   

That was a marked improvement on last week but still just middling and, come the end of the series, probably not one that will stand out. Really naff CGI again which is letting this series down badly.

I did like the sinister hints we got of the Doctor's true nature, though, and why he always surrounds himself with the young... I'd like to see them pursue that theme to its ultimate conclusion but can't see 'Doctor Who' getting quite that dark lol.

So far that's: 7/10, 8/10, 5/10, 10/10, 9/10, 4/10, 6/10 imo.
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Matthew Fryer (Matthew_fryer)
Username: Matthew_fryer

Registered: 08-2009
Posted From: 90.202.180.152
Posted on Saturday, May 15, 2010 - 10:39 pm:   

It was better than average, of this series certainly. I really liked the true nature angle too; it's almost a shame it's an all ages show!

It also made me smile that they were really restrained with the violence towards old people, despite the threat. Bless the BBC.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.109.134.168
Posted on Saturday, May 15, 2010 - 11:22 pm:   

I thought that it was a very strong episode. Very creepy with a complex emotional heart. A real cracker in my opinion. I can always overlook shit CGI if the ideas behind it are good.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, May 15, 2010 - 11:55 pm:   

It was a good idea, I agree, and a fascinating way of giving us a glimpse into the dark heart of the Doctor. For once we saw him as a deeply flawed character wracked with self-loathing.

Yeah, make that 7/10... if only the monsters had been better done this would have been a real cracker.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.109.134.168
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 12:23 am:   

But the monsters were such a minor part of this that they really didn't detract from the episode for me. This wasn't about the monsters at all.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 01:05 am:   

I thought it was the best episode yet of this new series - the rest have been pretty rubbish. The dialogue sparkled a bit tonight: "If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band."

The monsters were inconsequential (and how many times are they going to use the mouth imagery to show monster teeth/eyes?)
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.182.157.80
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 01:59 am:   

This wasn't about the monsters at all.

Exactly. A very nice episode indeed, if 'nice' is the right word.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.143.129.15
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 11:25 am:   

And by the bloke who wrote Men Behaving Badly! Good ep. And again - hilarious. Has Who morphed into being great comedy? Smith makes me laugh like a drain (whatever that means).
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.143.129.15
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 11:27 am:   

My favourite kind of ep, though. Empty, Avengery streets and people doing things out of character i.e. the psychotic old folk, all the peering out of windows. And Toby Young - he's such a cute little thing, isn't he? Makes me wish we all had little bodies and big heads.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 12:08 pm:   

*** SPOILERS ***

Good call, it did have an 'Avengers' type vibe to it as well as elements of 'Star Trek' with that all-powerful mischievous Dream guy beaming in and out - at first I thought they were inventing a Q character for the Who universe. And bearing in mind Freudian dream symbolism makes those monsters much more disturbing, not to mention what it says about the Doctor's mind!

Notch that up to 8/10...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.71.138
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 01:38 pm:   

Toby Jones, isn't it, Tony? Son of the inimitable Freddie.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.172.184.103
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 04:07 pm:   

Yes, a good episode. A Retrocausality adventure.
Was it serendipity that it was starting to snow when filming the Village Dream - when comparing it to the Cold Star dream?
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.145.226.3
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 04:25 pm:   

I got well confused. I thought it was going to be another return of the Master.

I'm getting a bit bored with Amy Pond and the "will she, won't she" with her boyfriend and the Doc now. Still, Matt Smith's the bright spot in an otherwise dull run, I feel.

Mark S.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.137.237
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2010 - 07:15 pm:   

Toby Jones said that only one existence was real and that the danger was real in only one of them. I must have a twisted mind because I thought that the real danger would turn out to be in the world that wasn't real.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 10:52 am:   

They pretty much sorted out the "Will she won't she" bit with Amy in this episode, so I don't think you really need to worry about that.

I thought it was a darned good ripping yarn again. I'm loving this series (dalek episode liked rather than loved) I just wish they'd sort out the CGI.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.143.129.15
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 11:16 am:   

It's the designs in the cgi, not the cgi. It's too cartoony, like Thundercats stuff.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.16.8.175
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 12:51 pm:   

They obviously wanted viewers to think The Dream Lord was The Master so they could pull the rug out from under them. I fell for it completely.

Kind of annoyed that Toby Jones won't be The Master as he'd be much better in the role than John Simm hamming it up panto-style.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 12:53 pm:   

Toby Jones would make a great Dr Who, I reckon.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.16.8.175
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 01:01 pm:   

Yeah, he would. Matt Smith must've been glad to see the back of him.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.143.178.131
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 01:16 pm:   

Yeah, I thought for a moment that it was The Master but the fact that it wasn't makes the line "There's only one person who hates me as much as you" all that more chilling.
Shit CGI is easy to overlook if the story is good, true for the crap effects in old WHO too. We re-watched Tomb of The Cybermen the other day and that's full of fairly comic stuff, but it's also very creepy in places.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 02:16 pm:   

If you had any more jaunty quirks you'd be able to open a jaunty quirk shop.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 06:02 pm:   

Where's Caroline?
I've been dying to hear her take on the last episode...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 06:27 pm:   

The more I think about this ep, the more interesting the central premise gets. All of that effort to make the Doctor formidible suddenly becomes dramatically threatening.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2010 - 10:39 pm:   

>>Where's Caroline?
I've been dying to hear her take on the last episode...<<

Aw, thanks for missing me Stevie. I've been away for the weekend, visiting my dad in the south. Made the decision to fly as it's so much quicker and easier on my health (pity about my carbon footprint though). Problem is, I got caught up in the volcanic ash cloud coming back. Hence an exhausting, lengthy train trip back instead of a relaxed flight. The result? I've been too knackered today to post on any forums let alone watch Doc Who (which I have recorded to get back to later).

And that's not to mention the H-U-G-E pile of marking I've come back to with a short deadline for return of marks. So I'm afraid you might not see me around here much for the next couple of weeks. Sorry. Nice to know I'm missed a little bit though.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Friday, May 21, 2010 - 01:59 pm:   

Silurians are back on Saturday. Should be good, and another two parter to boot.

There's an episode coming up where the residents of Aickman avenue are disappearing... That's the next Moffat script I think so it has potential to be plenty creepy assuming that the Aickman reference is deliberate. The thing that puts me off it a little is the guest star is James Corden...
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 09:50 pm:   

That was rollicking great fun!! A pure joy and a resounding 9/10 from me.

Every moment of that episode was an affectionate tribute to the greatest era in the show's history - the Jon Pertwee, Jo Grant, UNIT years. Not just the Silurians but elements of 'The Daemons' and 'The Green Death' were there all integrated into an exciting, scary, funny and intelligent whole. Good to see the Doctor's beloved human race portrayed as not the best thing since sliced bread!

I loved it and can't wait until next week.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 10:34 pm:   

>>Every moment of that episode was an affectionate tribute to the greatest era in the show's history - the Jon Pertwee, Jo Grant, UNIT years. Not just the Silurians but elements of 'The Daemons' and 'The Green Death' were there all integrated into an exciting, scary, funny and intelligent whole.<<

Couldn't have put it better myself, Stevie (apart from the fact that the McCoy era was the greatest in the show's history, of course, but the era you refer too was pretty damn good too). And was it my imagination or - when the Doc and the scientist lady whose name I can't recall went underground in the TARDIS - did that set actually wobble? I'm sure it did - and it was wonderful!

Mind you, I'm not so keen on Neve Campbell's silurian lady. Reminding myself what the original looked like in my "Time Traveller's Guide" just now, I preferred the original - much more reptilian and scary. This new one was a bit too cat-like. However, that's a minor grumble. You can't beat a good old man (or woman) in a suit along with wobbly sets!

Oh, and I've been catching up on last week's too. I loved Amy's Choice. I had a horrible feeling it was going to be one of those soppy sentimental ones, like Father's Day, but it wasn't. Well, there was obviously some emotion/sentiment, but nothing which wasn't called for. It was a lovely way to put an end to that "will she, won't she" nonsense about Amy and the Doctor. Great stuff!

Toby Jones was, indeed, superb. And that dark-side-of-the-Doctor business, well we've had that before, of course, back in the days of the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, but I think they were before their time. Now the time really is right for that kind of backstory. Loved it!
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.101
Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 11:20 pm:   

I didn't like the Silurians in this ep at all. Not alien enough. Too human and I sort of switch off. Better a very alien bad suit than a really good too-human one, I think - if the Ice Warriors came back they'd be sexy too, I bet. No good alien design this season so far at all. Smith still very good though - I just wish he'd be in a really good story... :-(
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 11:32 pm:   

The Ice Warriors did return, Tony, in the 'Waters Of Mars' special - which I thought was really very good.

The too sexy appearance of the Silurian maiden was the one slightly misjudged element in this week's episode but everything else was so spot-on I can overlook it. She did look more like one of the aliens from 'Alien Nation' than the Pertwee-era Silurians - cousins of the terrifying Sea Devils, remember!
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.18.203.76
Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 11:37 pm:   

>>Mind you, I'm not so keen on Neve Campbell's silurian lady.

You confused the hell out of me there. Neve Campbell's the star of the Scream films. The silurian was played by Neve McIntosh.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2010 - 12:09 am:   

It was allright, like. Cheap and cheerful entertainment.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2010 - 02:40 pm:   

>>>>Mind you, I'm not so keen on Neve Campbell's silurian lady.

You confused the hell out of me there. Neve Campbell's the star of the Scream films. The silurian was played by Neve McIntosh.<<

Whoops, sorry, Stu! I never have been much good at remembering names.

The other thing I enjoyed about this story was the cliffhanger ending. I'd forgotten this was going to be a two-parter, and the cliffhanger really gave me that great feeling of suspense I used to get from old series' cliffhangers.

Yes, true, it was cheap and cheerful - but that was what attracted me to it. Very much a homage to the old days, I reckon.

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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 10:53 am:   

I caught up on Amy's Choice & The Hungry Earth last night....They were both great stuff, Matt Smith, is the best Doctor since Tom Baker I am in no doubt.

The smaller budget this year has actually benefitted the series, so the dialogue is better, and also i can HEAR what is going on because there aren't 60 thousand Dalek ships attacking every five minutes - bliss.

I must say I am baffled by the knockers of this series so far...Itis soooo much better than the last couple. I watched 'The Waters Of Mars' again on the flight back from Jamaica, and though I enjoyed it a bit more than when I first saw it, Tennants over acting ruined it.

Yup, I am a Smithy fan!

gcw
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 11:45 am:   

Agree with every word... apart from a couple of dud episodes this series is turning out a great success and Matt Smith deserves every accolade going for making the part his own - from the very first moment he appeared.

If they could tone down the unnecessary CGI (last episode proved that) and intrusive music this would be well nigh perfect television!
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.237.52
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 05:35 pm:   

I know it's pricey to film at night but the Silurian in the graveyard was great and just the sort of thing that I like.

I'm amazed more people didn't like Amy's Choice..this to me is what 'Who should be about, it reminded me of The Mind Robber, or The celestial Toymaker.

Both this, and The Hungry Earth are closer in spirit to 'Classic''Who than anything since the series returned in 2005...And yet, a lot of people don't seem to like it.

Give 'em what they want....And they don't want it anymore.

Perhaps they didn't have enough shouting, or Dalek Death cruisers...Or Tennant gobbling the scenery...:-)

I love Matt Smith, he said 'Sorry' in The Hungry Earth and I truly believed him, when David T. used to say it I wanted to throw up.

(BTW, I don't have a probelm with David tennant as an actor, prior to 'Who I liked him, just think he was lazy casting as the Doctor)

gcw
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 88.111.142.82
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 05:58 pm:   

'I love Matt Smith, he said 'Sorry' in The Hungry Earth and I truly believed him, when David T. used to say it I wanted to throw up.'
I love him too.

'I'm amazed more people didn't like Amy's Choice..' Didn't like it.

'Dalek Death cruisers.' I want more daleks.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.143.178.131
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 06:02 pm:   

Yeah, New Who is really fantastic and I'm liking Smith very much indeed. I'm already feeling slightly down as we're halfway through the season and after this we'll have to wait ages to see him again. Amy's Choice has been one of my favourites so far and the line: "There's only one person who hates me as much as you" is utterly chilling when you realise who he's talking about. Also "If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band."
Chibnall's writing leaves me a bit cold (due mainly to some awful awful TV for Torchwood) but I thought the Hungry Earth was entertaining enough and this week's episode apparently has lots of big important plot arc stuff going on.
The Dalek episode has been the weakest so far I thought.
David T I liked, but he'd done all he could in the role.
If you want to see DT as a much younger man, in a brilliant drama go and get yourself a copy of Taking Over The Asylum. A brilliant brilliant Channel 4 dark comedy about mental health. Very good and the last few episodes are as powerful as a punch to the solar plexus.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 06:08 pm:   

Amy's Choice was the best of the series so far. By miles. As GCW says, it was more like the Who of my youth than anything else I've seen for a while.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 88.111.142.82
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 06:24 pm:   

''Dalek Death cruisers.' I want more daleks.'

I have to say I didn't see it. If the truth be told I just want to write a dalek script for them.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 10:12 pm:   

>>If the truth be told I just want to write a dalek script for them.<<

I think that's every Doctor Who fan's fantasy, Ally!
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 88.111.142.82
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 10:24 pm:   

Very true, Caroline
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.142.169.99
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 11:18 pm:   

I don't know about that...

Some Whovians take things a bit too far when it comes to their fantasies.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945478/usercomments



Mark S.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Friday, May 28, 2010 - 12:39 pm:   


That first review, from "Jase18", is absolutely hilarious! I loved this quote from a fan:
"It's outrageous to think of them touching up naked women - Daleks just don't behave like that."

Thanks, Mark, that really made me laugh.

I seem to remember something about Katy Manning (who played Jo Grant, of course) causing a bit of a stir when she appeared naked and being chased by a dalek. That wasn't in this film, was it?
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 28, 2010 - 12:47 pm:   

Did I just read that right... Jo Grant naked!!!!

Where?!?!
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.248.101
Posted on Friday, May 28, 2010 - 03:44 pm:   

http://www.themorningstarr.co.uk/2008/07/15/catherine-tate-nudity/
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 28, 2010 - 04:03 pm:   

I've just been titillated and horrified at one and the same time (sexist pig that I am).

Jo Grant, YES!!

Catherine Tate, Fuck NO!!!!

Now if only someone could dig up some candid holiday snaps of Gabrielle Drake in a purple wig my every childhood fantasy would be complete...
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Friday, May 28, 2010 - 07:40 pm:   

Stevie - down boy!!
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.153.166.193
Posted on Friday, May 28, 2010 - 08:17 pm:   

I still haven't warmed to Matt Smith. Whilst Amy's Choice reminded me so much of the hilarious Father Ted episode 'Night of the Nearly Dead' that I couldn't take the village sequences seriously at all. And i agree, this new branch of the Silurian family aren't reptilian or scary enough. The final shots of the 'lost' city made it look too bright and futuristic. I expect my run of the mill scary lost lizards to live in dark, dank caves and eat human flesh. I bet this lot have blasters too!
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.142.169.99
Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2010 - 12:09 am:   

I don't know Caroline, I've only seen the trailer for Abducted by the Daleks. I don't think it features Katy Manning.

If anyone wants to see it, said trailer can be found in the following link. However, be aware: it's an 18+ and not for minors...

I love the soundtrack.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x58xe0_abducted-by-the-daleks_shortfilms

Mark S.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.142.169.99
Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2010 - 12:14 am:   

Back in the proper world of Dr Who.

I actually think Matt Smith is in the running to be one of my fav all-time doctors. I find him extremely unannoying and a genuinely clever actor.

Mark S.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 01:28 am:   

Second part of the Silurian story was even better and built up to a surprisingly bleak ending that (hopefully) bodes well for what is to come... unless they bottle it and go for a cop-out resurrection.

This series is poised at a crossroads between being very good indeed and completely eclipsing the RTD years as potentially nothing more than a warm-up act imho!
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 11:20 am:   

I thought it was okay. I think my "meh" attitide to this is more down to the fact that I've grown out of the programme than the quality of the programme itself. The nostaliga factor made me love the earlier RTD efforts, but now that's worn off and this stuff pales by comparison to the Baker and Pertwee years (when I watched it as a kid).
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.209.217
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 11:36 am:   

You know, I haven't actually watched a single episode since the Dalek one. Not out of a wilful effort to avoid it, but simply because it's not registering on my radar anymore. I think I'm like Zed, really; I've outgrown it. Dr Who [braces himself as he prepares to utter the harsh truth] is for kids. The best episodes from your childhood you can still watch and appreciate as an adult. But the new series is for a new generation with shorter attention spans and different expectations.

Another piece of my youth flakes and falls away, bringing me ever closer to the grave... sigh.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 11:48 am:   

Aye. That's the way i feel too, mate.

Sigh.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.209.217
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 11:51 am:   

But- it occurred to me after I'd written the above- writing itself puts you into a childlike state, playing 'let's pretend', however bleak and grim the stories end up being (which is very, in your case or mine...)

Ah well. I've still got the old episodes on video... and there's always Blake's 7 ;)
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 12:42 pm:   

It's becoming tiresome by-the-numbers TV: run around and save the world every week, waving about that sonic screwdriver whenever there's a threat/locked door/monster on the loose.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.109.130.38
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 02:14 pm:   

Totally disagree with you good gents I'm afraid. This is the best season of WHO in a long time.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 02:23 pm:   

I think it's me rather than the show. There's nothing at all wrong with it; I just feel like I've lost interest but can't really pinpoint why. I'm still watching, though, which can only be a good thing. And Smith has grown into the role quickly.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.109.130.38
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 03:16 pm:   

Smith is magnificent. While Chibnall's writing on the Silurian duo wasn't perhaps as finessed as Moffat, it was the performances that made that one shine. Also, it's just great to see a family show that talks sensibly about peacable solutions and negotiations with other cultures; that message is crucial right now, as well as being a great tribute to the Silurians' creator Malcolm Hulke.
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Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 03:37 pm:   

I'll always be a WHO fan, even though I started watching during the Troughton era. I have now a vested interest of course, with my Big Finish stuff.

However, and I hate saying this, while down at the Utopia convention a few weeks ago, quite a fw of the fans I spoke seemed to feel that this new season is not really cutting it.

Most seemed to like Matt Smith, but several said that, overall, it wasn't as good as they'd hoped for.

It's early days yet, of course. And I didn't speak to everyone, so that might not be a widely-held view.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 04:19 pm:   

Come on you guys! Grown out of Doctor Who? Never! If an oldie like me can still find their inner child lurking inside somewhere and enjoy it again, I'm sure you lot can.
(BTW Paul - you must be nearly as old as me then )

I haven't watched the 2nd part of the silurian story yet - too busy at the mo.
*dashes off to do more assignment marking - even on Bank Holiday Monday*
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.238.131
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 10:49 pm:   

"I haven't watched the 2nd part of the silurian story yet"

it's excellent Caroline:-)

gcw
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.210.209.136
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 - 11:55 pm:   

Matt Smith has definitely won me over. I can't really agree with Gary and Simon - watching Smith as the Doctor elevates it above a kid's show for me. His delivery of the lines and the manner of his acting are first class, in my opinion.

Admittedly, the Sonic Screwdriver escape-clause is a bit tiresome. I never feel that the Doctor's in any kind of peril; even though the destination is never in doubt, the journey is still thrilling.
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Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 195.93.21.74
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 - 12:47 am:   

As my young son succinctly put it: "The sonic screwdriver has become the 'I win' card."

They need to damp that fire down before it gets out of hand. But yes, Matt Smith is doing a decent job in my opinion. For what it's worth, having seen episode 2 tonight, I think this Silurian story has been the best of the season so far (probably because it was quite traditional in concept, and I'm a sucker for tradition). I didn't see why we had to have a Silurian re-design - especially when the originals were so different and distinctive. These new ones seemed to me to be generic sci-fi lizard-people. But they were well done and I found the overall story very satisfying.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 - 11:01 am:   

I'm still a bit upset about Rory.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.156.233.202
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 - 08:23 pm:   

I LOVE Matt Smith but have decided that this series has been a bit underwhelming. The last ep had the horrible word 'Stargate' popping up inside my mind. Poor Smith, stuck in the most ok run of the new Who so far...
RTD, for all his faults, did at least bring a sense of oomph and momentum to the show. This one feels like something's missing.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.149.93
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 - 10:07 pm:   

For all its faults, the RTD version wasn't as disapponting as this one. (shit, I just typed that sentence before I read your last sentence, Tony - honest!)

Maybe it IS Doctor Who that's the problem. The TARDIS is a wonderful metaphor for the imagination. But maybe that's all Doctor Who is - one metaphor that got out of hand.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.149.93
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 - 10:14 pm:   

Matt Smith has been the only consistently good thing on the show so far - inspired casting, as it turned out. Amy Pond's running out of ways of making her skirt shorter. She might have to resort to being interesting some day.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.156.233.202
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 - 11:37 pm:   

Proto - I need to apologise to you. I had a weird mini breakdown last week and blamed everyone for everything. I'm so sorry (to quote Who).
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.156.233.202
Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010 - 11:43 pm:   

The new Who had to do what the Trek film did - do some weird radical thing whether we liked it or not.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 01:08 am:   

Tony, you sure you haven't ate any strange tasting cakes by weird old ladies recently?
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.156.233.202
Posted on Thursday, June 03, 2010 - 06:05 pm:   

It would seem so.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Friday, June 04, 2010 - 05:59 pm:   

The trailer looked good but tomorrow's episode is by Richard Curtis... This is one I'm not sure about already.

Hopefully I'll be proved wrong.

Still upset about Rory though. He was really starting to grow into a nice little character.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.89.111
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 08:13 pm:   

Monster. Running. Door. Sonic. Crashing.
Repeat.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.89.111
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 08:15 pm:   

DocWhoXtreme2Max is the new youth-friendly title.

Invisible monster. Nice budget-conscious.

Doctor Who is mostly rubbish, isn't it? Less rubbish in some of the Tom Baker era, but still, rubbish.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 08:40 pm:   

I really enjoyed that one. The stock monster storyline took second place to subtle character development, with the events of last week's episode adding sweet poignancy. I also found the ending packed quite an emotional wallop. I knew I was being manipulated and that it was all saccharine nonsense but it was so well delivered I couldn't help being sucked in. Quality entertainment imho.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.238.131
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 08:52 pm:   

I agree Stevie, the was an edge of real emotion which sets this series ahead of past ones.

The story was unremarkable, but the acting and some great lines pulled it through.

gcw
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 08:52 pm:   

I'd rank the series so far: 7/10, 8/10, 5/10, 10/10, 9/10, 4/10, 8/10, 9/10, 9/10, 8/10 = 77/100 or 77%

Pretty good.. pretty, pretty good...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.89.111
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 08:58 pm:   

I'm out of touch. I thought it was painting by numbers.

Van Gogh (whose name you'd think they'd be able to pronounce correctly) killed himself because he couldn't handle clouds and wheat. That's the kind of person you whisk into the 21st century?
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.89.111
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 09:10 pm:   

Nitpicking logical errors are just a symptom of something more fundamentally wrong, though, aren't they? If a film is crap we keep noticing the actor's botox and that backlit EXIT sign on the wall.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 09:13 pm:   

The holes in the story wouldn't take much analysis, Proto, but it worked as captivating family entertainment imo. Matt Smith just gets better with every episode. I really love the guy now.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 09:34 pm:   

That Vincent Van Gogh episode was the best EVER Dr Who since 1964. Really.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.89.111
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 09:51 pm:   

Doctor Poo.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 09:54 pm:   

It was perfect in its own terms. And the actor playing Vincent was superb - and the Van Gogh sets were quite awe-inspiringly good.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 10:21 pm:   

I'm with Des. It was absoluetly bloody brilliant - so good it's changed my mind about the entire show. Wonderful entertainment.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 10:38 pm:   

I'm actually starting to think that I'm wrong and this series might in fact be a bit special - in my experience, anything that polarizes opinion is usually worth looking at with fresh eyes, and this is certainly doing that.

Hmmm...
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Matthew_fell (Matthew_fell)
Username: Matthew_fell

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 142.179.1.109
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 10:41 pm:   

Tonight's episode was fucking brilliant in every way.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 10:43 pm:   

Huzzah! Great, wasn't it?
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.89.111
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 10:50 pm:   

Now I feel like Van Gogh. Alone and misunderstood. There goes my ear.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 10:55 pm:   



Horses for courses, innit? I thought the series was pretty poor until this evening.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 11:13 pm:   

The episode even took the piss out of the sonic screwdriver - which has been my big bugbear this series.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.89.111
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 11:47 pm:   

It was technically well produced, but really - was there anything surprising or unique about it?
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 11:50 pm:   

No, not at all, but if I want suprising or unique I won't go looking for it at 6:40pm on BBC1...

As I keep saying, it's all about the conext. IMHO, a mainstream prime time BBC television show that references van Gogh and manages to bring a lump to my throat classifies as courageous television. Most TV is utter, utter, utter, utter shit these days; if something appears that's actually good, it's tantamount to a miracle.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Saturday, June 05, 2010 - 11:51 pm:   

Actually, there was something suprising about it: it was clever and entertaining and moving.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.141.208.154
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 11:14 am:   

Funny that sitcom writers have written the best eps of the series so far.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.141.208.154
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 11:17 am:   

Des - do you like Smith now?
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.238.131
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 11:45 am:   

Ironically, since I have loved Smith & this series from the off, I didn't think 'Vincent & The Doctor' was the best episode of the series thus far.

On the negative side, the plot was so basic as to negligable, the monster was crap, Bill Nighy, I kinda like but he does seem to a Richard Curtis Luvvie mate type thing.

On the positive side, the dialogue was great, I could HEAR what was going on (which is nice)and the ending was very moving (though the inclusion of the soft rock song to push the 'atmosphere'was dangerously close to overkill for me).

Still, it's all worth it just to see Zed finally seeing the light...Now, if we can just get him into Dexys Midnight Runners.....)

(Private joke..:-))
gcw
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 11:52 am:   

The monster was a representative of Hieronymous Bosch in a Van Gogh painting. The whole production (beautifully set, e.g. within Gogh's own studio) was highly and deeply emotionally absurdly logical. Without question, the high point of Dr Who ... ever. :-)
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 11:57 am:   

The monster was a representative of Hieronymous Bosch in a Van Gogh painting. The whole production (beautifully set, e.g. within Gogh's own studio) was highly and deeply emotionally absurdly logical. Without question, the high point of Dr Who ... ever.

It was the archetypical Van Gogh, if not the real one,
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 12:21 pm:   

I've now issued a short blog about the episode:
http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/doctor_who__vincent_van_gogh.htm
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 81.100.116.128
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 12:48 pm:   

This episode didn't really do anything for me. Not sure if that's 'cos:

a) I missed the second half of the Silurian 2-parter and so kept wondering where Rory had got to.

b) I recently read David Morrell's novella 'Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity' which is inspired by Van Gogh and so kept comparing the two stories.

c) I watched a few episodes of Buffy beforehand which reminded me that Buffy does the whole "wisecracking soap opera with a monster as metaphor for this week's emotional issue" thing way better than Nu-Who does.

d) I just wasn't in the mood.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 01:00 pm:   

'Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity' is a great story, isn't it?
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 81.100.116.128
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 01:24 pm:   

Yeah.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.142.169.99
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 01:31 pm:   

Fucking hell. I thought that Vincent Van Gogh Dr Who episode was sheer brilliance. Quite stunned and moved by it, really.

Mark S.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 01:52 pm:   

Just noticed a question from Tony above I earlier missed.
I loved Matt Smith in this episode, and his assistant - particularly in that scene under the stars - and even Bill Nighy was good. Tony Curran as Vincent was spectacular!
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 81.100.116.128
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 02:02 pm:   

Yes, he really nailed the accent.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 02:03 pm:   

Archetypical Van Gogh, not the real one, or course.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.214.39
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 03:09 pm:   

Where'd you get the Bosch reference for the monster, Des? It reminded me much more of Bacon's "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion."

Still a boring ep, I'm afraid!
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 03:16 pm:   

Bosch:
http://www.ligotti.net/showpost.php?p=16302&postcount=3

and also Grunewald:
http://shocklinesforum.yuku.com/sreply/45310/t/Horror-Paintings-pre-1800-.html
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.131.175.165
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 06:08 pm:   

Someone elsewhere thought the monster was a cockatrice.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.159.131.192
Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 07:25 pm:   

The monster was rubbish. The Van Gogh characterisation and sets were brilliant. The ending brought tears to my eyes and Matt Smith is slowly but surely growing on me, Amy isn't. In fact I find her pouting quite annoying now.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.141.208.154
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 07:51 am:   

I quite liked the monster!
This imperfect ep was quite lovely. A real hug for those up-and-down mood sufferers that meant yes, your old hero and friend does know you exist and cares about you. It felt he reached out of the screen with this one - last week had been a particularly glum/grim week for me and I actually NEEDED this precise story and situation from precisely Dr Who right at this very moment. Like I said, not a perfect episode, but due to timing and intent and heart yes, one of the best episodes ever. Like Vincent's work, in fact - rough hewn beauty.

BTW the fact the monster has been glimpsed in a lot of works of art makes me think that's the point, that only these guys can see this sad beast.

Also, it was Smith's best performance yet because he wasn't all over VVG like a rash, but rather a little impatient to see the 'next thing'. It was the most convincingly Time Lordy he has ever been, the Doctor, I felt, in this one.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.9.56.47
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 11:29 am:   

I really enjoyed this one even though I had reservations about Curtis being the writer. I loved the way the screwdriver didn't work at all - the line about "from now on I'm only using this to put screws in wood" (can't remember the exact line) was laugh out loud funny.

I hope next week's is better than it looked from the trailer. James Corden is not my favourite actor and he looked like he was on autopilot from G&S still. But on the bright side, that's better than autopilot from the sketch show him and Matthew Horne did - that really did show that
Ruth Jones is the talented writer on G&S
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 04:35 pm:   

I agree, Sean, Amy's cockiness has been starting to grate on me for a while too but she doesn't ruin the show while Matt Smith is a simply magnificent Doctor (easily the best since Tom Baker, as I'm now getting tired of saying). The actor who played Van Gogh in this episode was superb, in fact he, Matt Smith and the wonderful dialogue were what made this episode special.

Where's Caroline? I'm dying to hear what she thought.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 05:14 pm:   

I agree, Weber. There's something about James Corden I find it hard to warm to and 'Gavin & Stacey' has to be the most overrated "comedy" show of recent years - I just don't get it?!

I also tried to watch a couple of eps of that sketch show and found it embarrassingly unfunny to the point of feeling almost sorry for them. Still, it was better than 'Little Britain'.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.152.211.122
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 06:46 pm:   

Doctor Who is a clearing house for mediocre art. It's like Tesco's Cornflakes.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 06:48 pm:   

>>Where's Caroline? I'm dying to hear what she thought.<<

I'm here, Stevie. It's nice to be missed!

I'm afraid I haven't even watched the 2nd part of the silurian adventure yet, so I'm way behind (What's this I read? Rory is gone? Noooooo!!). I've just had a fantastic weekend at the Fantastic Films Weekend, so I've got a lot of catching up with Who to do.

Also, I'll post my thoughts on FFW later (on the appropriate thread).
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.157.25.52
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 06:57 pm:   

In recent years, Protodroid is right.
But Dr Who and Vincent was a masterpiece, no mistake. Most blogs I've read agree, but that doesn't prove anything.

Welcome back, Caroline, & glad you had a great weekend. Iam keen to hear what you think about Vincent. Do you want a deadline for your response? :-)
des
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.141.208.154
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 07:36 pm:   

Dr Who has been too good to dismiss. Some of my favourite ever telly has been contained in this programme. I can't write off a show that crops up in my thoughts and memory somehow every single day like that. What other tv show makes us think of the things and situations Who does, gives us the chance to see our dreams played out? TV without Who would be pitiful, even in its current patchwork quality form. Take it away and I'd want to go with it.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 07:52 pm:   

Yep, I've always said 'Doctor Who' is the single most influential TV programme of my life. It's what turned me on to horror as a kid and its deserved resurrection in recent years is one of the very few glories of the modern TV era.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.152.194.163
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 08:09 pm:   

Golly. It seems to me like half-baked and repetitive scripts bound together with sticky blobs of nostalgia and media saturation.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 08:12 pm:   

Ah, but there's magic in those sticky blobs...
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.154.130.98
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 08:26 pm:   

Sticky blobs! Now that would make a BRILLIANT Who episode!!!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 08:38 pm:   

They already did it in 'The Three Doctors'.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.152.194.163
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 09:52 pm:   

Next week's ep: "The Doctor Who (sic) faces his toughest enemy yet - a nostalgia monster that incrementally lowers standards. Guest stars someone from Eastenders or something."
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.238.131
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 10:05 pm:   

I'm not looking forward to this Saturday's...I sniff a whiff of crap episode.

Still, might be pleasantly surprised. Let's see.

gcw
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.210.209.136
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 10:34 pm:   

It's the Gavin and Stacy episode isn't it?
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.209.217
Posted on Monday, June 07, 2010 - 10:47 pm:   

Could be. On the other hand, the fact that it's set in a house on Aickman Road suggests that someone with a functional cortex may have had his/her hand on the throttle at some point. Which is encouraging.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.70.184
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 12:23 am:   

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr-Who-Lost-Interviews-DVD/dp/B0038AL7GK/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb _t
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.210.209.136
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 12:35 am:   

Proto, that's hilarious.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.208
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 09:31 am:   

So you liked the Vincent episode. You're all now fans of the Whalley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Curtis

I'm ashamed of you all!
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 09:59 am:   

Even a moron can have a moment of lucidity...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 10:58 am:   

Richard Curtis always has a character called Bernard in his scripts who's a complete arse, because he was cuckolded by someone with that name decades ago. Let it go, for Christ's sake.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.157.25.52
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:00 am:   

If the episode had been written nemonymously, none of you would have known it was by Richard Curtis and 100% would have liked it instead of 80%
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:31 am:   

I didn't give a hoot who it was written by and still stand by my 8/10. It was one of the great episodes of DW but there were flaws - Amy was particularly irritating & the unimaginative story/monster did let it down. But everything else was pure magic and that, entirely character based, pay-off has to be THE MOMENT of the series so far! Wonderful telly!!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:32 am:   

Not as wonderful as 'Psychoville' though...
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.157.25.52
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:35 am:   

The monster made it perfect. It needed to be just like that monster. The monster in the window - its last balcony. :-)
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:37 am:   

I watched the 2nd part of the silurian story last night. Quite good. I enjoyed what you might call the "philosophical" aspects of it - pointing out the human race's weaknesses, aggression, etc. Good that - harking back to classic Who and the way they used to make many stories which really "said" something then.

But, oh, poor Rory. I appreciated the poignancy of Amy forgetting he'd ever existed. I have a feeling that when the "crack in time" thing is finally revealed in the last story, we'll meet Rory again though ...

Can't wait to watch this Vincent episode after all you've said about it above. Coincidentally, I was watching a film at the festival this weekend which featured strange goings-on in a painting (the first segment of Three Cases of Murder - brilliant!).

Why all the animosity towards Richard Curtis? I've never watched his films as they're not my kind of thing, but I wonder if now is the right time to confess to having enjoyed the Vicar of Dibley and Blackadder?
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:47 am:   

'Blackadder' was the greatest sitcom of the 80s, Caroline, and still hasn't dated a day.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:57 am:   

I didn't know it was Richard Curtis until after I'd watched the episode, Des. My indifference is based on the material.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:59 am:   

Colin's Sandwich was the greatest sitcom of the 80s.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 12:09 pm:   

That's one that passed me by but always loved Mel Smith and any sitcom about a budding horror writer has to be worth a view. Is it available on DVD?
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 12:18 pm:   

Unfortunately not...it's one of the great forgotten programmes.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.208
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 12:22 pm:   

Same as Roger, Roger.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 12:55 pm:   

Oh, I loved Colin's Sandwich. You can find clips on Youtube, but I do wish they'd release it properly.
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.238.131
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 09:20 pm:   

Colins Sandwich? - jeez, now yer taking me back!

What was that awful film?...Morons From Outer Space.

gcw
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.179.206.84
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:05 pm:   

Proto:-

http://ukrarities.com/product_info.php?products_id=151&osCsid=f363e54e4124dc618d 9eec422591ae8b

(Although I do wonder about the products on this site!).

Colin's Sandwich was wonderful; Morons from Outer Space execrable.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.209.217
Posted on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 - 11:16 pm:   

I loved 'Colin's Sandwich'- great series. Thank god someone else remembers it fondly. Should've known it'd be Zed...

While we're on the subject, anyone remember 'Comrade Dad'?


'A Small Problem'?

...I'll get me coat.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.152.231.237
Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2010 - 12:42 am:   

Thanks Mick. Have you had any dealings with this company? There's no BBC logo on the DVD cover - do they sell this stuff out of the boot of a car?
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.179.206.84
Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2010 - 09:40 am:   

Never heard of them before - I'm wondering if the stuff they sell is taken from TV, although they do claim Colin's Sandwich is 'digitally remastered'.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2010 - 12:12 pm:   

Which could mean anything...
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 81.100.112.35
Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2010 - 02:26 pm:   

Simon, was Comrade Dad the one with George Cole set in a UK under Soviet rule? Vaguely remember an episode about getting a Xmas turkey off the black market. And there might have been a gag about turkey flavoured custard.
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Mark West (Mark_west)
Username: Mark_west

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.39.177.173
Posted on Wednesday, June 09, 2010 - 03:23 pm:   

Blimey, "Colin's Sandwich" was a blast from the past. Does anybody remember "City Lights", the sit-com set in Glasgow with Gerard Kelly, about a would-be writer?
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.152.176.45
Posted on Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 08:42 pm:   

Am I right in thinking that tonight's episode took place in Aickman Road, Colchester?? !!
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.142.169.99
Posted on Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 11:01 pm:   

Ha! Well-spotted Des. Wonder if it was intentional?

On a side note do you think the football thing in the episode was planned to coincide with England's first game? Perhaps we can call the Doctor up for the next match...

Mark S.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.152.176.45
Posted on Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 11:14 pm:   

I noticed that with the football.

BTW, I'm a Colchester boy (went to school there) and an Aickman fan.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.209.217
Posted on Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 11:26 pm:   

Stu- re 'Comrade Dad', yes it was.
Des- yup re Aickman Road. If you scroll up the thread you may notice me mentioning it the other week. I dunno, nobody pays attention around here...
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.152.176.45
Posted on Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 11:46 pm:   

Oh, yes...Sorry, Simon.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.209.217
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 12:59 am:   

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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 09:38 am:   

Last night's episode was pretty ho-hum but with just enough entertaining asides to make it worthwhile.
James Corden, and the cornball "will he, won't he" excuse for a story, was as irritating as I'd feared and the "Doctor plays football" bit was a clearly intentional and intrusive tie-in with England's first game but it was nice to see the Doc struggling to adapt on his own in this one and parts of it were genuinely funny and suspenseful.
6/10 overall.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.208
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 10:35 am:   

Dr Who - bah! They should stop showing it and put more football on. You hear me? More football, I say. Dr Who - pah! I get sick of it. Dr Who this, Dr Who that. It's boring.

(I hate Dr Who but decided to read this thread anyway. And make a comment about it, by God.)
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.238.131
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 11:06 am:   

Shush now Gary...:-)

Yes, last nights was the crap episode 11 which seems to happen every season, in fact it very much reminded me of 'Fear Her' which occupied a similar slot.

James Corden really is a one trick fat man pony & hopefully he will fade from our screens soon...The football thing was so ho-hum. No, not all men like football, please give us some credit.

As ever, it was saved by a superb Matt Smith performance -best bit, when he spat the wine back into the glass. Classic!

gcw
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.170.180.134
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 12:12 pm:   

WHAT! I thought this was excellent, this one. It was the most inspirational the character of the Doctor has ever been. It was an extension of last week's, I thought, seeing the Doctor and his approach to life held up for scrutiny.
I dunno, I sometimes think we're all just floating through life on our own ice floes, not really connected at all, each to our own dimension.
Corden was quite sweet in it, I thought.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.170.180.134
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 12:14 pm:   

Cue proportionally deeper digs at Who from various people.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.170.180.134
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 12:15 pm:   

And for my youngest, who loves Who AND footy, it was the show's most sublime moment ever.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.16.14.6
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 05:47 pm:   

So-so episode. Would've been better without all the crap comedy stuff.

Btw, did anyone notice the Van Gogh self-portrait on the fridge door?
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.152.176.45
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 06:05 pm:   

Yup
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 11:17 pm:   

I enjoyed it - and the Doctor's football antics were great.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 11:56 am:   

Matt smith is apparently an ex pro footballer who had to quit through injury before he made it big - like Gordon Ramsey
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 12:01 pm:   

Football's loss is television's gain... he is a wonderful actor.

I believe he has made the Doctor so much his own role that he will remain forever typecast after this, though, in the same way Tom Baker actually became the Doctor.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.143.178.131
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 12:35 pm:   

I sort of wish Ramsey (Gordon that is) had remained a footballer, as he makes a rubbish chef.

Baker did actually still act in loads of different things after WHO though, so I'm sure Smith will be fine. Sadly it seems to be the companions that suffer the most. Adric? Nissa? (Mind you those last two were woefully bad actors).
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 81.100.121.168
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 01:02 pm:   

Didn't it turn out that Gordon Ramsey exaggerated his pro footballer skills to make himself look good?

Frazer Hines did all right for himself after being the Doctor's companion. Jean Marsh did okay too (although not strictly speaking a companion). Noel Clarke's making a name for himself. Struggling to think of any others -- Billie Piper and Catherine Tate don't count as they were both pretty well known before boarding the TARDIS.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 05:25 pm:   

>>Adric? Nissa?<<

Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) is currently writing books, and I recently saw Sarah Sutton at a convention - she's a lovely bubbly lady. She left acting to concentrate on her family, as did Sophie Aldred (Ace). A lot of them seem to do that - and then they pop up some time later at DW conventions!

Oh, Louise Jameson (Leela) is/has been in Eastenders or something like that, hasn't she? And Bonnie Langford has a pretty good stage/musical career I think. A lot of former Doctors and companions do quite a bit of stage work. Colin Baker, for example, is rarely off stage, and Sylvester McCoy has done a lot of stage acting - though problems with his leg have been keeping him off stage for a few years.

BTW Colin Baker is soon to play Inspector Morse on stage - which should be good.

Sorry, I just had to pop up and say something in answer to "where have all the old Docs/companions gone?" I follow these guys round for autographs, of course!
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.152.176.45
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 05:41 pm:   

caroline, I look forward to your views on the Van Gogh epsiode. Or have I missed them? :-)
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.16.2.34
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 06:54 pm:   

I forgot about Louise Jameson being in Eastenders. Probably because I don't really count that as being successful. She was in Tenko as well.

And now I think about it one of the other Sevateem warriors was a regular in Eastenders as well playing Tamzin Outhwaites's dad. Actually, looking at wikipedia it says he was in The War Games as well. And Blake's 7.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 10:18 pm:   

>>caroline, I look forward to your views on the Van Gogh epsiode. Or have I missed them? :-)<<

No, you haven't missed my views yet Des - I've now watched it (and this week's episode too), but I've been a bit too tired to put together a meaningful post about it so far. I found it a difficult and emotive episode to watch - but that's due to unresolved issues lurking in my past.

I'll get the energy to put a sensible post together about it soon ..
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 11:26 pm:   

No pressure, Caroline... it was pretty powerful, wasn't it.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.159.131.159
Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 - 11:35 pm:   

Yeah, a bit hit and miss this episode. My wife and daughter still think David Tenant is the better Doctor 'cause he's better looking, in a scrawny sort of way'. Lol!
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Sunday, June 20, 2010 - 09:54 pm:   

So, has anyone watched tonight's first part of the big two-parter finale? I still haven't commented on the last two stories yet, and I don't have time/energy to make any sensible comments about this latest one at the moment either, but I'm dying to hear others' views on it.

One question is uppermost in my mind: is River Song the Doctor?
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.182.163.130
Posted on Sunday, June 20, 2010 - 11:12 pm:   

Dunno, but I liked the fact that:-




SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



there was only a chair inside the box, ready for him...
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 10:55 am:   

I loved that episode. I think we know where the budget for the CGI in the rest of the series went... it paid for this one. Is it possible the most extreme cliffhanger they've ever done?

I do like the way that the crucial date that keeps getting shown - 26/6/10 is this coming Saturday - the date of the final episode - so be warned, reality itself will end this weekend.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.203.69
Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 11:10 am:   

We thought the cyberman was the scariest one there's ever been. It was like something from a horror film, the Thing in particular. Jesus!
But I do think I'm veering more towards the 'the Doctor makes an omlette' style of episode than this one, much as I liked it.

My feeling is that the dust that got in Amy's eye in episode such-and such will play a part, that she'll become a Weeping Angel in death and send them all back to the past.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 11:29 am:   

There's been a couple of nods to classic horrors this season - especially when Moffat's written the episodes - most notably the weeping angel coming out of the TV screen which was like something out of the Ring - and one of the scariest things I've seen in Dr Who.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 12:25 pm:   

Watched the latest ep late last night and couldn't get over how truly nightmarish it all was, particularly that brilliantly done cyberman attack, Rory turning into an Auton and that cliffhanger ending surrounded by enemies - who now appear to be maybe not the bad guys after all...

9/10 for me, but I have a nervous feeling that they've left themselves too many loose strands to tie together with complete satisfaction. If they do pull it off (without going for a pat happy ending) it'll be one of the greatest achievements in the show's long history. This was a great build-up (like a long dark night of the soul for the Doctor) but the conclusion will have to be an absolute humdinger...
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 05:59 pm:   

Weird.

Proto hasn't been on to winge about how rubbish it was yet.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 12:03 am:   

I loved it. And Alex Kingston has a lovely bum.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 12:36 am:   

Lovely everything... I'd bang her like a barn door blowin' in the wind!

... um, did I say that out loud?
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 217.43.43.31
Posted on Saturday, June 26, 2010 - 02:49 pm:   

I've just read that Neil Gaiman has written an episode of Dr Who to be shown next series! Should be a stonker! I love Neil's writing. I still have the entire first run of his 'The Sandman' comic in the attic crying out for a second reading. Sublime stuff.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 217.43.43.31
Posted on Saturday, June 26, 2010 - 02:51 pm:   

Now if only they could tempt Alan Moore...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.152.207.160
Posted on Saturday, June 26, 2010 - 03:05 pm:   

"Proto hasn't been on to winge about how rubbish it was yet."

I think your choice of verb shows how open you are to hearing opinions that differ from your own.
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Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels)
Username: Mark_samuels

Registered: 04-2010
Posted From: 86.133.23.20
Posted on Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 12:30 am:   

Hup ayoup.

Just watched the season finale.

Matt Smith is officially my favourite Dr Who.

Genius.

Mark S.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.153.251.53
Posted on Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 09:32 am:   

I liked his atomic fez.

And they've pinched ideas from my retrocausality themes of the recent year. :-)

And a blank book!
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 81.153.251.53
Posted on Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 09:53 am:   

...but a bit of a muddly paradoxica - the finale - but basically satisfying - and very well acted.

I wonder what the kids viewing managed to glean. I think they would have enjoyed it and probably gleaned more than me!
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.14.53
Posted on Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 02:30 pm:   

The last two were good fun. Rory has turned out to be a much better companion than Amy Pond.

Niggles: The Doctor AGAIN giving a pontificating to his emenies about how great he is.

It's so high-fantasy that the solutions are all deus ex machina. "Of course! If we fly the boxy thing into the glowy thing the universe will be fixed!" You just made that up, Moff. That's not a satisfying solution - it's arbitrary.

I guess they can only calm down now with the finales. They should have the FX spectacular a couple of eps before the end, then end with a coulle of quiet, but intense character shows.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.14.53
Posted on Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 02:32 pm:   

Sorry about all the typos.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 12:55 pm:   

""Proto hasn't been on to winge about how rubbish it was yet."

I think your choice of verb shows how open you are to hearing opinions that differ from your own."

No, not really. I'm very open. If i wasn't I would have been asking you to leave the thread. I must say that I was starting to wonder why you watch the show as you would be the first person to post a comment and normally a negative one.

I really liked the conclusion - even if the escape from the Pandorica was straight out of Bill and Ted.

I like the way he hasn't cleared all plot lines, we still don't know what made the Tardis explode or whose voise said Silence will reign when the crack appeared on the Tardis screen

I loved his rewind, the scene with Amy repeating from the weeping Angels episode showing us it wasn't a continuity lapse when his jacket appeared and disappeared between takes. His performance was fantastic in that bit.

And best of all, we're starting the next series with 3 travellers in the Tardis on what I hope is a permanent basis.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 02:11 pm:   

"If i wasn't I would have been asking you to leave the thread."

Ha! And banishing all isoceles triangles from the world with a wave of your spangled wand.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 02:36 pm:   

Proto, I can't remember the last time that I agreed with you on anything (barring your first sentence on your 2:30 post yesterday). But i'm not the type who doesn't want to hear or see other opinions stated.

I was recently asked to leave a thread for making disparaging comments about Nabakov. Asking me to leave the thread made me stay on it. I know it's completely counterproductive.

I can honestly say that I trust Craig's opinions on films before I trust yours but I don't give a damn if you want to state your opinions anywhere. If what you say is worth a reply, I'll reply with a rebuttal (as you know - you've lost your rag with me more than once for pointing out why I think you're wrong about things).

I may not agree with what you're aying but I will defend to the death your right to say it - to quote some bloke.

A bit of disagreement makes threads more interesting, nothing worse than a thread where everyone agrees - sooo boring.

So keep on insulting things wot I like and praising stuff wot I hates. Please.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 03:42 pm:   

Boys, please - no fighting on the Doctor Who thread. Doctor Who is for fun - no fighting allowed here. Be nice to each other. Let's see you both kiss and make up. No tongues mind!
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 03:47 pm:   

I'm not fighting.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 03:48 pm:   

>>I'm not fighting.<<

You're only saying that so you don't have to kiss Proto.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 03:49 pm:   

again.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 03:50 pm:   

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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 03:50 pm:   

Once was more than enough
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 03:51 pm:   

"as you know - you've lost your rag with me more than once for pointing out why I think you're wrong about things"

Nope.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 04:02 pm:   

Ok so the district 9 thread was you being reasonable?

Furry muff.

As to my choice of the word whinge, that was more due to the fact that the things you complain about (especially in this thread) are either irrelevant details in my opinion or completely baseless in fact (again IMO) - which qualifies the complaints as whinges (again IMO) - nothing to do with me not being open to other people's opinions - just my opinion about your stated opinions.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 04:39 pm:   

It's Scalene triangles I want to get rid of anyway. Hate the cheating bastard things.

I like isoceles triangles, they turn me on.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 05:09 pm:   

How can something be "completely baseless in fact" in your opinion?
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 05:11 pm:   

Quite easily - if my opinion is that something someone says has no basis in fact.

Shimples.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 05:15 pm:   

Something factual or not regardless of your opinion on it. Why use the word "fact" if it doesn't mean anything?
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 05:20 pm:   

e.g. Your statement in an earlier post that the Vincent episode was dull etc. That in your mind is a fact. In my mind it isn't. In my opinion your statement had no basis in fact.

In your opinion it was a statement of fact.

Shee. Shimples.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 05:26 pm:   

>>Let's see you both kiss and make up. No tongues mind!<<

I know what it is. A mere kiss to show that you two are really the best of friends isn't enough - you guys want full S&M sex with the entire RCMB watching. I've rumbled you both, you know!

Anyhow, Doctor Who is for fun. If you love it, be proud. If you hate it, give me your address and I'll come round and kill you very, very slowly.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 05:32 pm:   

If in my opinion, your opinion has no basis in the facts as I see them, then in my opinion your opinion has no basis in fact.

Here we get into the whole area of objective and subjective truths. Is truth subjective? Is there such a thing as an objective fact?

Probably not, except that I'm bored to the point of talking shite but luckily I'm off home in a few minutes to finish Horns and start on season 3 of the Wire.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.148
Posted on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 05:39 pm:   

"e.g. Your statement in an earlier post that the Vincent episode was dull etc. That in your mind is a fact."

No, never said that. It's a fact that I have that opinion, but that opinion is not a fact.
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Nathaniel Tapley (Natt)
Username: Natt

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 78.146.255.235
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 03:20 am:   

"Niggles: The Doctor AGAIN giving a pontificating to his emenies about how great he is.

It's so high-fantasy that the solutions are all deus ex machina. "Of course! If we fly the boxy thing into the glowy thing the universe will be fixed!" You just made that up, Moff. That's not a satisfying solution - it's arbitrary.

I guess they can only calm down now with the finales. They should have the FX spectacular a couple of eps before the end, then end with a coulle of quiet, but intense character shows."

Yes, but the Doctor pontificating was shown to be stupid and ignorant. It was a stupid move, and retrospectively justified its use in The Eleventh Hour and The Silence In The Library to set him up for this disastrous use of the same ploy.

And this was a quiet, character piece (relatively speaking). It was four people bimbling around a museum, followed by a long examination of existence and memory for one of the characters, and her relationship to the Doctor. The weird box-in-the-sun was only a distraction to keep people who think they're watching science fiction watching...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.61.39
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 12:50 pm:   

"Yes, but the Doctor pontificating was shown to be stupid and ignorant."

That's a good point. It's possible I mentally switched off when he started making that speech.
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Jonathan (Jonathan)
Username: Jonathan

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.143.178.131
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 01:07 pm:   

Who has never been straight SF and Moff said that he wanted this season to be more like a fairy tale, but in a good way.

I love the finale which was as much a love-letter to Who and fandom than as story about monsters and that.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 01:27 pm:   

I have refrained from reading people's thoughts on the final episode so here goes:

I watched the big finale last night and found myself loving it despite not having much of a clue what the hell was going on! A triumph of irresistibly engaging characters and incidental detail and sheer fun over coherent storyline imo. I have to give it 9/10. Even though it didn't really make a lot of sense and left many unanswered questions the whole thing was done with such style and effervescing energy and enthusiasm by all the cast that, in the end, it would have felt churlish to nit-pick. The character interplay and several inspired set-pieces made it all worthwhile imho - something that could be said of the entire series.

So in final summation:

1. The Eleventh Hour : 7/10
2. The Beast Below : 8/10
3. Victory Of The Daleks : 5/10
4. The Time Of Angels : 10/10
5. Flesh And Stone : 9/10
6. The Vampires Of Venice : 4/10
7. Amy's Choice : 8/10
8. The Hungry Earth : 9/10
9. Cold Blood : 9/10
10. Vincent And The Doctor : 8/10
11. The Lodger : 6/10
12. The Pandorica Opens : 9/10
13. The Big Bang : 9/10

That's 101/130 or 78% or 8/10 for the series as a whole. High quality family entertainment and, despite the expected duff episodes, still the best series of the modern 'Doctor Who' yet with Matt Smith a revelation in the role. I have a good feeling we have yet to see the best of this Doctor and I for one can't wait...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.76.70
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 01:54 pm:   

"Who has never been straight SF and Moff said that he wanted this season to be more like a fairy tale, but in a good way."

A good story establishes its own rules (no matter how crazy) and comes to a resolution within them. The new DW pulls new rules from its sleeve at a very late stage whenever it needs the story to end. You can't destroy the universe, then wriggle out of it arbitrarily (and at no cost to any of the characters) without diminishing the sense of threat, and therefore drama. I like happy endings, but they must be earned.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:05 pm:   

I actualy agree with Proto's comments on this - there's no sense of threat. Every danger every week has to be one that threatens the entire universe (can't it just threaten a street, or a family or individual for a change?) and he either uses his sonic screwdriver to do thngs never before mentioned or miraculously produces/creates/realises something vital that saves the day.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.11.80.181
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:27 pm:   

Zed, you never complained when RTD used to do that.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:31 pm:   

Because he didn't do it as much. It's become comical in this series.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:36 pm:   

The ending did make sense within the internal logic of the show - the tardis burning at every point in history, restoritive rays from the pandorica broadcast across the whole of history and powered by the tardis engines restored the universe. It made much more sense than "The whole population of Earth think of teh Doctor at once and this causes him to morph from an ancient almond shaped blob of timelord back into David Tennant, just in time to save the day.

It made more sense than the using the master's dna from a lip print from the master's wife to resurrect the master a full year after he died, has she not washed her face the entire year?

I said already that his escape from the Pandorica was pure Bill and Ted time travel theory, but I don't care about that. It was great fun - more fun than any of RTD's finales were.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.11.80.181
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:38 pm:   

I'll think you'll find that he did.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:38 pm:   

This is almost like arguing which piece of shit smells worse...
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:39 pm:   

Stu - not that I noticed. Which means he was doing something right.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.11.80.181
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:39 pm:   

My comment was to Zed. And wasn't actually supposed to contain the stupid typo.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.11.80.181
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:40 pm:   

No, it just means you weren't paying attention.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:43 pm:   

Ha!

I think I was simply more accepting of RTD's silliness.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.11.80.181
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 02:47 pm:   

Fair enough. For the most part I couldn't get on with RTD's silliness and Tennant's overacting. But, apart from a few dodgy episodes and a few crappy scenes/lines, I've been pleasantly surprised by Moffat and Matt Smith.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 03:34 pm:   

Amen to that, Stu.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.206.185
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 09:58 pm:   

RTD's series had more drive and sense of fun, at least till the last lot. I love Matt Smith but only *loved* three episodes of this series, and had hardly any feelings stirred up whatsoever by the last two, the last one in particular. This series I have felt no pressure to rush to my sofa every Saturday like I did with most of the RTD's (and I'm the first to say RTD had faults). Many of RTD's have really stuck in my mind. And Tennant, who did gurn from time to time, really often brought a sense of life and urgency to the part.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.206.185
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 09:58 pm:   

BTW I do feel sad saying this stuff. I love Who.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.155.206.185
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 10:01 pm:   

Smith is my favourite Doc, though, I have to say, now. Pond though really bugs me, as does River. (?!)
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 10:53 pm:   

>>Pond though really bugs me, as does River. (?!)<<

I'd never noticed that before! I wonder if the next companion will be Veronica Lake?

BTW before anyone asks, I've watched it. I loved it. And I'll say more (and about Vincent and the Lodger) later.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 11:58 pm:   

Just watched the finale and enjoyed it. Not much more to say. Which probably says a lot.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.103.8
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 12:26 am:   

Yeah, that River person isn't as charming as the producers seem to think. Ditch Pond and keep Rory, I say. Let's have a lads night out in the Tardis!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 12:48 am:   

I think River Song should have her own spin-off series, aimed at adults with lots of nudity!

Rory has really grown on me while I'm not overly fussed on Amy but she doesn't ruin the show - would like to see her character mellow out a bit.
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Seanmcd (Seanmcd)
Username: Seanmcd

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 86.153.166.7
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 01:45 am:   

I long for a slower,more considered, atmospheric approach to Who. No more 'end of all time all existence' storylines featuring every monster ever! Didn't Davros try to prevent the big bang/creation of the universe from ever happening with his 'reality bomb' last series finale? Enough already!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.17.252.126
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 01:53 am:   

You have a point, Sean.

I'm hoping that first series was Moffat getting all the RTD extravagance out of the way and that next series will show how "limited" this new Who universe has become. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part?

I still think this series and Matt Smith's Doctor was a great triumph though...
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.103.8
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 01:55 am:   

Yes, why not do an adult spinoff later in the evenings?
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 09:01 am:   

Sean, that's a point I made further up this thread. Why does every threat have to involve the end of the universe and/or reality? It's boring. There's no threat. I mean, we know that this kind of show is never going to follow through on such a threat and destroy everything.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.14.58.15
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 09:35 am:   

Zed, what happened to "It's a kid's show, we should be grateful that it's as good as it is when it's on BBC1 at Saturday teatime"? I mean, fair enough if the novelty's worn off but it seems a but unfair to blame that on Moffat when, a few wobbles aside, he's actually running the show at least as well as RTD ever did.

Anyway, not every show did involve the end of the universe/reality. Most of them only threatened the end of the world at most and some of them not even that. The Beast Below was just about the colonists and the space whale. Amy's Choice was just about the Doctor, Amy and Rory. Vincent and the Doctor was just about Vincent's madness and the alien.

Moffat's dialled down a lot of the excesses of the RTD era and I hope he continues to do so. He doesn't get everything right -- as Weber said, there's a bit too much Bill and Ted in his time travel ideas; the "love" triangle between Rory, Amy and the Doctor moved on in jumps and starts; apart from the odd act of compassion and bravery Rory was a bit of a fifth wheel until the series finale; all the Doctor's enemies ganging up on him played like fanboy indulgence -- but he's not done bad.

Also, I think I should point out that RTD had 4 seasons and a bunch of specials to win you over. Moffat has had only one season. You're not exactly being fair, are you?
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:01 am:   

I never claimed to be fair. Or unchangeable in my opinions. I wax and wane on this as I do with almost everything. Some days I'll forgive it for being daft; other days I'll condem it.

Contrary to popular belief, I'm only human (well, partly).
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.14.58.15
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:11 am:   

You mean you're not setting forth well-reasoned, carefully constructed arguments? Good Lord man, the internet is no place for ill-informed opinions.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.132.95.75
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:17 am:   

My favourite form for Who is; he goes to a weird new planet, meets a new alien, helps it. Or; is on earth, earth has some weird invasion, the Doctor helps it. My favourite assistant type is the sensitive screamer, i.e. Sarah Jane. I'm not a fan of the whopperoo story arc, don't like this 20-year build-up (RTD said he had a 20 year plan) to 'something'.
This last ep was really lazy, and none of the emotional bits bothered me a jot. I preferred the Lodger ep, seeing how the doc made an omlette, what nice things he said to the fat guy.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:19 am:   

Stu: Whe-hey!

I didn't think the final episode was lazy, to be honest. It was suprisingly low-key in execution. Like I said; I enjoyed it.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:20 am:   

Don't get me wrong, Stu; I have enjoyed this series. Very much, actually. I'm just very aware of its (often major) flaws.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.14.58.15
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:27 am:   

Oh yeah, I could spend a couple of hours quite happily pulling the Moffat season to pieces but I still enjoyed it more than I expected to. Low expectations probably had something to do with it. Next season I'll be looking forward to the show being even better and will probably end up hating it.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 10:40 am:   

That's what I'm afraid of too... we can allow Moffat one series to find his feet and tie all the RTD loose strands up but next year he's really going to have to deliver!!
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.158.156.168
Posted on Monday, July 23, 2012 - 04:33 pm:   

Gosh - only FIVE episodes and a special this year.
Last days? Mucking about like this is never a good sign... :-(

I have to say I'm not as remotely excited as I used to be.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.232.199.196
Posted on Monday, July 23, 2012 - 06:56 pm:   

"Gosh - only FIVE episodes and a special this year.
Last days? Mucking about like this is never a good sign... :-("

Hmmm. I hadn't heard about that. It does smack of the kind of messing about the Beeb did with the show back in the eighties. I hope we're wrong ...
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Monday, July 23, 2012 - 07:11 pm:   

They've made fourteen episodes as usual - they're just showing the next eight early next year. Rather than Doctor Who in the eighties, think of the Sci-Fi Channel and Battlestar Galactica, or AMC and The Walking Dead - they'd show it all year round if they could afford it, but instead they're making as many episodes as they can afford together, but splitting them into mini seasons to get more out of them.

Some people reckon we might also get a full thirteen episodes next autumn - if so next year is going to be rather ace. But even if we just get those eight episodes and an anniversary special, we're still a darn sight better off than Star Trek fans, who have had to get by with just two measly hours of Trek in the last seven years...
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.145.210.167
Posted on Monday, July 23, 2012 - 10:03 pm:   

And according to the rumour mill we could be seeing a new doctor sooner rather than later. Whether that's true i don't know but they definitely have a dalek spectacular on the way with every design of dalek ever coming in for a pop at matt smith
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.232.199.196
Posted on Monday, July 23, 2012 - 10:14 pm:   

Ah, that's better news then - except I think Matt Smith is great as the Doctor, he's just had some rubbish stories.

When does it all start, by the way? I guess I should know these things really.
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 08:57 am:   

They don't tend to announce it in advance, to keep ITV on their toes, but it's expected to begin in August.

As for Matt Smith - it'll have been three full seasons by the end of this one, and no one's done four since Tom Baker, so it wouldn't be a big surprise if we have a new Doctor by next Christmas. Can't see him leaving before the anniversary, though - he's been talking a lot about how much he's looking forward to it.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.44.185.15
Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 09:50 am:   

He never really got a chance to warm up. I wish another writer/producer had had some time with him. Even RTD.
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 11:17 am:   

I think most actors to have played the role would consider Matt Smith to have been extremely fortunate in the scripts he's had.

Just watch Sylvester McCoy's take on the Stonehenge speech to see what I mean - he starts off kidding around, but by the end embraces the chance to show how good his Doctor could have been.

There's certainly been nothing in the last two seasons of Doctor Who to compare to the horror of a Pip and Jane Baker script!
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.44.185.15
Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 11:21 am:   

I've just not felt that 'umphy' feeling. I struggle to remember a really great bit. All his best bits have been fun ones in episodes like The Lodger.
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 12:32 pm:   

My kids could name ten or twenty great bits for you - and then they'd finish with The Impossible Astronaut and move onto The Day of the Moon..!

Watching any programme when you're not enjoying it is a waste, I reckon. There may well be a time when it would be just what you're looking for, and you've used up the chance to watch it for the first time.

After loving the first few years, I got sick to death of watching 24 round about season six and gave up on it, but this week noticed seasons seven and eight on Netflix and it's been a real treat.

It's not like the old days where you have to watch something when it's first on, or miss it forever.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.44.185.15
Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - 01:37 pm:   

I keep watching it in hope. I'll try to stop moaning!
Yes, you can get fatigue from shows. Sometimes it is the show just failing (Supernatural really went two seasons too far and is in really agonising death throes) but sometimes it is just over-familiarity.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.108.104
Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 01:40 am:   

I saw the new trailer. It looks like Red Dwarf.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.158.157.153
Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 12:29 pm:   

:-(
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 08:24 pm:   

Blinking 'eck - Matt Smith on the cover of Entertainment Weekly!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/57245

Not bad for a programme that you'd think was on the scraphead, to listen to you lot!
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.184.107.37
Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 08:44 pm:   

Proto's done nothing but complain about it for the last 4 years. I just tune it out now.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.126.202
Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 09:47 pm:   

Entertainment Weakly
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 09:34 am:   

Yeah, hard to believe Doctor Who has reached the point in the US where it's on the covers of the same magazines as American icons like The Dukes of Hazzard, or, looking at the last two covers, J.R. and Batman!
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.158.157.153
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 10:54 am:   

Those are big things. Not great things, maybe, but surely 'entertaining'. Dukes of Hazzard was fun.
Er, were you being sarcastic, Stephen..? :-(
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 10:59 am:   

No, not sarcastic.

It's like when Radio Times put Mad Men on the cover. The ratings didn't really justify it, but it's a sign of the programme's cultural heft.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.158.157.153
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 11:07 am:   

Right! I keep thinking EVERYBODY is being sarcastic these days.
Like I say, I haven't been nuts on Who - I maybe only like one in five stories - but I'll always watch it. I just sort of brace myself.
(My kids have gone off it completely though, and say they don't want to watch it when it comes back... :-( )
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.232.199.196
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 06:29 pm:   

We seem to be losing former companions at a fast rate nowadays. Nick Courtney and Lis Sladen, of course, and more recently Caroline John:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18531461

And now Mary Tamm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18995370

So sad to see all the old Doc Who legends going to that Great Tardis In The Sky.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.26.62
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 11:18 pm:   

If Tom Baker goes, that's it. I'm getting my coat.
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Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker)
Username: Stephen_theaker

Registered: 12-2009
Posted From: 92.232.184.137
Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2012 - 11:52 pm:   

She was very good, I thought. It's weird to think how very, very little they did with her character, beyond not wanting to travel with the Doctor, and then changing her mind and starting to enjoy it. They'd have so much more fun with a time lady in the Tardis these days.

Looks like it's going to be eight episodes in the spring next year and then specials in the autumn, with a new series to follow in 2014. Shame, but it reminds me of what Russell Davies said when asked the programme wasn't in HD - because it would mean a series every 18 months instead of every year.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.129.57.26
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 12:54 pm:   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5iwoRA2Cas
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.44.185.68
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 05:29 pm:   

:I
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.129.57.26
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 09:15 pm:   

I know we're definitely losing Amy in this series and there's a new assistant on the way.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.7.56
Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - 10:35 pm:   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRMORP8ykLA
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.129.57.26
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2012 - 01:33 am:   

Ah yes. red dwarf once did an episode with a wild west setting, therefore anything any other sci fi programme does with a similar setting must be in some way copying red Dwarf.

thank you for that proto.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.42.55.97
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2012 - 02:46 pm:   

Oh, the laughs we had. I will savour these jolly exchanges to my grave.
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David_lees (David_lees)
Username: David_lees

Registered: 12-2011
Posted From: 92.22.61.240
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2012 - 04:59 pm:   

The Prisoner did a Western episode first, though.
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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 90.244.32.247
Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2012 - 07:56 pm:   

Dr Who did The Gunfighters in '66. The Prisoner episode was '67. The Star Trek episode with the Gunfight at the OK Corral was '68.

Mind you, the cyborg thing in the Dr Who trailer does look like the bastard lovechild of Kryten and Robocop.
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.129.59.183
Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2012 - 11:51 am:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7YGoVyRSik&feature=player_embedded
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 09-2010
Posted From: 86.128.128.75
Posted on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 06:55 pm:   

I've just identified the Whovian Woofers:
http://nullimmortalis.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/the-whovian-woofers/
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 09-2010
Posted From: 86.128.128.75
Posted on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 07:11 pm:   

...and, following on from that, here is my suggestion for the Doctor's new Time Box:

who
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.253.196
Posted on Monday, May 13, 2013 - 07:15 pm:   

That last ep was clear proof that Gaiman must be put in a sort of box like Magneto, away from pens or typewriters and the like, for all eternity.
It was bloody awful. Maybe the worst I've seen of the new Whos.
Sad when even Radio Times proclaims this series 'patchy'. :-(
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.134.106.72
Posted on Monday, May 13, 2013 - 08:04 pm:   

Can't disagee more more Tony. It was disappointing compared to the Doctor's wife - but the main issue I had with it was Matt Smith putting in a fairly weak performance, rather than the writing.

Gaiman is responsible for so much great stuff I can easily forgive an episode that's merely good solid entertainment instead of great.

He's responsible for Sandman, Coraline, Mirrormask, Neverwhere, American Gods, Stardust, The day i swapped my dad for 2 goldfish, Violent cases, among other things - and not forgetting one of the best of the new Who's there's been - the Doctor's Wife.

I know some people find him too whimsical and not hard edged enough. I know (in a link to another thread) he received hatemail from people because his hero in American Gods managed to prevent an apocalyptic war that would have torn the world apart. But I love his style of writing.

If everything i read was gritty and hard edged I'd get bored too quickly - that's why I read a variety of styles.

I know that you don't like Jonathan carroll Tony, so that goes some way to explaining your comments. If you don't get what makes JC so good, Gaiman probably isn't going to float your boat very highly either.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.158.253.196
Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - 03:53 pm:   

Those completely unimpressed/'bored' kids annoyed me, and the stock Gaiman Dickensian weirdos ('He wears a top hat - in the future!').
I don't want heavy or dark Who stories but I also don't want candy floss like this. I was forgetting it as I watched. I like Who a bit scary and odd, and a little bit funny - the show is meant to be 'light'. But it's a bit sad when an episode of Not Going Out we watched last night turns out scarier, funnier and better plotted than this.
And yes, it feels like Smith is ungenerating himself with each passing moment.
A lot of people I know are really going off it, however amazingly popular it might seem to be. Honestly, hand on heart, bring back Russell T and Tennant in a Dallas inspired 'it was all a dream' episode, *please*....
(That episode ages ago, when the Daleks popped out of the egg to fight the cybermen, still remains one of the highlights of my telly-watching life. I knew at the time it wouldn't/couldn't get any better... )
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 09-2010
Posted From: 86.177.161.219
Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 11:13 am:   

Very strong impression that the Peter Capaldi Doctor is probably the greatest yet, and the best first episode of a series for years.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.232.244.250
Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 05:21 pm:   

Agreed, Des. Just finished watching it on iPlayer as I missed it last night. Loved the nods to classic Who (eg. Invasion of the Dinosaurs). Capaldi's Doctor seemed to borrow heavily from many of the classic Docs - Hartnell, of course, and also the confusion and aggression of the Sixth and Seventh Docs during their regenerations.

It was a good story - nice and creepy too, which is just the kind of Doc Who story I enjoy. I did get a bit irritated by the soppy ending with Clara deciding whether to stay or not - didn't think that was particularly necessary. And who is that lady at the end in "paradise" - could it be River Song?

Anyway, thoroughly enjoyed this - looking good for the new series. Darker, with much less of the "timey-wimey" nonsense.
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David Lees (David_lees)
Username: David_lees

Registered: 12-2011
Posted From: 2.216.164.11
Posted on Monday, August 25, 2014 - 01:42 am:   

The woman at the end was called "Missy" in the credits.

Missy.

Mistress.

Master.

I don't buy it myself, but it's a theory going round :-)

I think the episode was primarily written to try and win over the younger audience to the fact that the Doctor isn't going to an exciting good-looking young man anymore. It definitely got better as it went on, particularly the Doctor's confrontation with the cyborg at the end. Quite dark and a clear departure from the way Smith or Tennant's versions would have handled things.

I don't think there's any doubt Capaldi could play a stellar Doctor, the question is whether the writing and direction will do him justice.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.232.244.250
Posted on Monday, August 25, 2014 - 12:03 pm:   

"I don't think there's any doubt Capaldi could play a stellar Doctor, the question is whether the writing and direction will do him justice."

You hit the nail on the head there, David. I think Matt Smith made a superb Doctor too - but the stories/writing let him down badly. Let's hope they do better by Capaldi. I'd like to see him go down in Doctor Who history as one of the best.

I hadn't thought of that "Missy"/"Master" connection - could be. There was also mention of the Rani popping up again some time, wasn't there? Anyway, I hope they don't try too many story arcs. I'd prefer to see nice and dark, stand-alone stories from now on.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 - 03:20 pm:   

So would we all, Caroline, and that's what I'm hoping for.

Missed it at the weekend and hopefully will catch it tonight on iPlayer.

Meanwhile, episode 5 of 'The Silurians' is when things got really grim! The Doctor and Baker were reprieved from execution at the last moment by the supreme leader of the Silurians who was convinced by the Doctor's arguments that Humans and Silurians could live together and share the surface of the planet, with his mediation. The Brigadier and his men were freed and the Doctor sent back to them to arrange the peace negotiations. Just like Northern Ireland all over again! But then... disgruntled factions within the Silurian heirarchy, outraged at this treating of apes as equals, assassinated the leader and replaced him with a new young ambitious hawk!! They then proceed to infect Baker with a virus deadly to all apes and release him. He dies a horrible suppurating death but not before having infected Geoffrey Palmer's visiting government minister who returns to London carrying the deadly contagion. The episode ends with Baker's death and the Doctor's realisation of the Silurian's treachery. "He's dead", gasps the Brigadier. "Yes, and he's only the first of many!" intones the Doctor. Cliffhanger to Ep5!

What a great bloody story.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 - 03:36 pm:   

My major frustration with New Who over the Matt Smith period was the ridiculously convoluted plots crammed into such a short running time. Some of the stories had the makings of something great but were allowed to fizzle out with a rushed ending at the 45 minute mark. Compare that with the Pertwee story I'm watching one-a-week at the minute and the difference in quality, writing talent and sheer intelligence is starkly apparent. Things really need shook up - I would suggest a complete change of format and a return to continuing single stories with cliffhangers (but then I'm tired of suggesting that since New Who started) - to give Capaldi and the franchise any chance of recapturing all our imaginations.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.232.244.250
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 - 05:17 pm:   

"I would suggest a complete change of format and a return to continuing single stories with cliffhangers (but then I'm tired of suggesting that since New Who started) - to give Capaldi and the franchise any chance of recapturing all our imaginations."

Absolutely with you on that, Stevie!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Friday, August 29, 2014 - 03:06 pm:   

Looking forward to the 'Doctor Who' repeat at 7.45 on BBC3 tonight. As I'll be out tomorrow I think I'll bring forward Episode 6 of 'The Silurians' to watch just before it.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.234.125
Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2014 - 05:22 am:   

That first episode was all over the place and again way too frantic in its efforts to please. Good moments but a terrible mess of a whole. Watching it back to back with classic Who only brought that home with all the more clarity. Good performances and production values but awful incoherent writing. It was like watching something with the "entertainment" knob cranked up to eleven for every second of its length. No subtlety, no finesse, no internal logic, no attempt to rein itself in and no respect for the viewer's patience or intelligence. I'd give it a highly frustrating 5/10... and that's being kind.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.234.125
Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2014 - 05:31 am:   

Capaldi was the best thing in it. The basic plot, when we got to it, would have made a decent four part story but was lost amid all the bells and whistles. Ditch the Victorian characters - they are intensely irritating as well as completely unnecessary - and ditch the bloody awful attempts at wacky humour!!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 212.183.140.57
Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2014 - 01:01 pm:   

I must say the second episode of 'Doctor Who' with Peter Capaldi was a great improvement over the half-baked opener. One of the best Dalek stories of the New Who era and refreshingly dark with the silly humour kept to a minimum. It wasn't perfect - again too rushed given what they could have done with the 'Fantastic Voyage' concept over several episodes - but it worked as a bit of pleasing suspense/action entertainment and Capaldi continues to grow into the role with some much needed grumpiness and a toning down of the icky sentimentality that blighted Tennant & Smith's tenures, IMHO. I'd give this one a solid 8/10. Here's hoping things continue to get darker and the Doctor more ambiguous as the series progresses.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Monday, September 08, 2014 - 02:55 pm:   

I've now finished watching 'The Silurians', for only the second time ever, and I really have to rank it as one of the best written 'Doctor Who' stories of them all.

Episode 6 was genuinely harrowing, and would have disturbed me no end had I seen it as a kid, as it followed Geoffrey Palmer to London and laid out an apocalyptic path of contagion that put me in mind no end of 'Survivors' and 'The Stand'. The sight of Palmer melting into a pustulant mess on an innocuous London street while surrounded by concerned civilians has to be one of the most disturbing images ever to grace the programme! Back at the research centre the Doctor and Liz work frantically to concoct an antidote from the ravaged body of Baker while, in cut away scenes, people drop like flies all over the Capital. Then, just as the Doctor believes he has cracked the antidote, the Silurians launch a sneak attack on the lab with but one goal - the elimination of the Doctor - and the last we see of Pertwee is him being hideously attacked! Holy fuck! Cliffhanger to Ep6.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Monday, September 08, 2014 - 04:37 pm:   

Episode 7 reveals that the Doctor has been taken prisoner by the Silurians who plan to use his alien expertise to utilise the nuclear power of the plant to destroy the Earth's Van Allen belt - thus reducing the planet to a place fit only for cold blooded creatures. There is a lot of action and seriously well written political negotiation before their plans are foiled and they are convinced to go back into hibernation. The Doctor leaves believing his job is done but as he and Liz leave in Bessie, having the Brigadier's assurance that they will stand by the agreement, we are shocked to witness the wholescale bombing of the caves!!!! The Doctor is outraged and the story ends with his startling still relevant exclamation; "It's genocide! They were an intelligent civilisation. It's mass bloody murder!!"

Powerful stuff... and classic sci-fi television that hasn't dated a day in its power to entertain!!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.233.28
Posted on Saturday, September 20, 2014 - 12:51 am:   

A third through the new series of 'Doctor Who' and here's how I'd rank them so far:

Ep1 "Deep Breath" 5/10 - a real mess of an opener that tried to tie up far too much from the Matt Smith era in its meagre running time. Capaldi was the best thing in it. Intensely frustrating.

Ep2 "Into The Dalek" 8/10 - a big improvement and one of the most entertaining Dalek stories of New Who. Not quite a classic but very good.

Ep3 "Robot Of Sherwood" 6/10 - very silly and rather too pleased with itself broad comedy episode that didn't even attempt to make sense. Some funny moments but overall nah.

Ep4 "Listen" 7/10 - intriguing and quite scary at times ghostly horror episode let down by straining for maudlin sentiment and a certain feeling of pointlessness in the end. There were moments here that showed just how good New Who could be if they only balanced the tone with more darkness. Good but, again, very frustrating.

Overall that's a not particularly impressive 26 out of a possible 40 or 65% => 6.5/10.

Production values and performances are of the expected high quality - with Capaldi single-handedly making the show watchably entertaining - but the quality of the writing is all over the place. It's the lack of continuity and internal logic that I'm finding increasingly frustrating, and when one factors in the baffling smugness of the production (as if they've given up caring about cohesion or respecting the viewer's intelligence) that things really begin to verge on the maddening, imho.

Last week I watched the first episode of 'The Ambassadors Of Death' (1970) with Jon Pertwee, for the first time ever, and found it a riveting piece of serious science fiction inspired by the Apollo Moon landing and made with all the gravitas and intelligence of a Nigel Kneale play. That's what I want and expect from 'Doctor Who'... not wanking off!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.233.28
Posted on Saturday, September 20, 2014 - 01:28 am:   

At the beginning of "The Ambassadors Of Death" Pertwee's Doctor is still reeling in disgust at the extermination of the Silurians and there is a palpable hatred between him and the Brigadier. Frustrated and angry the Doctor just wants to get the TARDIS repaired and be away from Earth and the callous treachery of the human race. Then something goes horribly wrong with the televised return of the first manned mission to Mars and he is roped into another adventure - with Liz Shaw as his trusted (and really rather cute with her new hair-do and mini-skirt) assistant. There's a wonderfully scary sequence when the solo recovery astronaut enters the returning capsule only to fall foul of some unseen terror that makes a horrible screeching sound. After that the story settles into a kind of Cold War thriller with the murderous intervention of enemy agents on Earth (no doubt the Russians). The cliffhanger has the Doctor faced with a gun toting scientist at mission control who turns out to be a double agent. No monsters, no threat to the fabric of the universe, just well written, paced and acted nuts-and-bolts drama with a believable sci-fi backdrop. It was good to see David Hunter from 'Crossroads' acting in deadly earnest as the concerned and pressurised mission controller. Great stuff! Can't wait to see episode 2 tomorrow!
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.234.149
Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2014 - 10:53 pm:   

Well now! What a difference a week can make. Episode 5 of the new 'Doctor Who', "Time Heist", was seriously excellent with all the elements of the show clicking to rare perfection. It gets an unequivocal 10/10 from me!

This is what we want. A well written, intriguing and perfectly paced self-contained story that worked in the running time as well as any of the great stand alone episodes of 'The X Files' or 'Fringe' and that got the balance between action, suspense, scares and character based humour - rather than jarring slapstick - exactly right, while delivering clever plot twists and likeable - rather than silly - new support characters who added to the entertainment value rather than detracting from it. Add one of the scariest new monsters the show has seen in recent years, with The Teller, and we're talking a really excellent television classic, imho!! More of this please!!!!

If only they could take the chemistry of this one - directed by Douglas Mackinnon and written by Stephen Thompson & Steven Moffat - and apply it as the standard expected quality across all the stories then this format of the show could actually be made to work. Alas, it appears to be a case of too many over-excited cooks spoiling the broth these days. This show needs a ruthless quality controller at the helm pulling all the disparate elements and scriptwriters together under one rigorous vision.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 - 11:54 am:   

Episode 2 of 'The Ambassadors Of Death' played more like a straight 70s spy thriller than any other 'Doctor Who' story I am familiar with - and made for a refreshing change. The writing, acting, suspense, gravitas and pleasing touches of character humour are all still there and the concentration on human enemy agents, set on sabotaging the Mars Probe mission, rather than rubber suited monsters shows the programme makers making the most of their meagre budget (always Classic Who's one major but forgiveably charming flaw) and presenting a straight sci-fi thriller that could hold its own with any of the BBC's more "serious" adult oriented projects of the time.

The Doctor manages to disarm the treacherous scientist, Prof Taltalian (who had been ordered to silence the meddlsome expert from UNIT), but he manages to escape. The recovery capsule, containing the strangely uncommunicative astronauts (three of them), then returns to Earth but is ambushed and stolen by a squad of heavily armed enemy agents. There's a lot of behind the scenes political intrigue, an exciting firefight, and the intervention of the Doctor in Bessie, utilising her newly installed force field, before the capsule is recovered. We are made aware of the covert involvement of some Top Secret government agency (led by a General Carrington who reports to the Security Minister, Sir James Quinlan), and who appear just as ruthless as the Russians(?). The episode ends with the return of the capsule to mission control with still no word from the crew inside. The capsule registers as highly radioactive and the cliffhanger has the Doctor declaring there is no way those inside could still be alive! "Cut it open man! Cut it open now!!", he cries and we're into the music... Great stuff, as ever.
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David Lees (David_lees)
Username: David_lees

Registered: 12-2011
Posted From: 176.25.255.74
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - 02:25 pm:   

Yes, I enjoyed Time Heist a lot. A story that actually played to the constraints of the single episode format rather than shoehorning in big ideas that really needed more space to breathe.

Watch seem to be showing some older episodes as well as the Horror Channel, just by chance I managed to record Vengeance on Varos the other night.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.234.188
Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2014 - 12:23 am:   

The difference between back then and now, it seems to me, is that Old Who achieved a timeless greatness without ever really striving to, while New Who tries to batter us over the head with its "greatness" with every new story but only occasionally, due to the undeniable talent involved in the show, manages to actually attain TV classic status. It's all a question of quality control and focus of vision - NOT merely having fun with the production values, imo.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.234.188
Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2014 - 12:33 am:   

Or... when money was tight and special effects severely limited more time and effort had to be spent on the strength of the script and the commitment of the performances to engage the public's attention and devotion. The cliffhanger endings too were instrumental in keeping us gripped and having to know what would happen next, while always making sure we never felt short changed when the answer was revealed each week. That's the essence of suspense right there.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Thursday, October 23, 2014 - 01:19 pm:   

Wasn't impressed with the two episodes that followed 'Time Heist', apart from the quality production values and Capaldi's performance, but I must say that last weekend's 'Flatline' was another absolutely brilliant stand alone episode that gets 10/10 from me. Is there any other popular genre show of recent years that is so wildly, unpredicatably and frustratingly variable in quality as 'Doctor Who'? You can never write the man off but, by Christ, watching each new episode these days feels like playing Russian Roulette ffs!
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David Lees (David_lees)
Username: David_lees

Registered: 12-2011
Posted From: 176.27.15.12
Posted on Thursday, October 23, 2014 - 03:40 pm:   

The last couple of episodes have been particularly strong, I felt, and both by the same writer who did an "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit that's well worth reading for some insight into the show: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iyngn/i_wrote_tonights_doctor_who_and_nex t_weeks_ama/

I've noticed The Horror Channel seems to have a new selection of classic Who's on right now, I'm recording Carnival of Monsters at the moment and The Time Warrior starts tomorrow.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Friday, October 24, 2014 - 06:20 pm:   

David, I've started collecting the Jon Pertwee years DVDs and I'm watching them in strict chrono order one-a-week at tea time on Sat (when possible). They are fecking brilliant! Possibly the best thing I've watched since the whole DVD phenomenon started. It feels like being a kid again every time I sit down to watch the next episode. The cliffhangers, the writing, the seriousness of the acting and the concepts involved in each long running storyline make a mockery of every other episodic sci-fi TV show of recent years (with the honourable exception of 'Fringe') imho.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.29.1
Posted on Friday, October 24, 2014 - 06:24 pm:   

Oops, yes, you're right, David! The Mummy episode was also brilliant. It was the two before that that didn't impress me - 'The Caretaker' and 'Kill The Moon' (which I found especially cringeworthy).
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David Lees (David_lees)
Username: David_lees

Registered: 12-2011
Posted From: 176.27.15.12
Posted on Friday, October 24, 2014 - 07:47 pm:   

Aw man, looks like we're in for a regeneration sooner than expected!

who
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David Lees (David_lees)
Username: David_lees

Registered: 12-2011
Posted From: 176.27.15.12
Posted on Friday, October 24, 2014 - 07:51 pm:   

I really enjoyed the Pertwee's the last time Horror did a run of them and felt genuinely sad when he finally regenerated. They seem to show far more of them than any other Doctor, so I had time to really connect the characters. The others just seem to get one or two stories shown at a time.
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David Lees (David_lees)
Username: David_lees

Registered: 12-2011
Posted From: 176.27.15.12
Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - 09:21 pm:   

I didn't enjoy last weeks episode quite so much, but it was clearly one aimed primarily at kids. I can't believe we're almost at the finale already.
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 09-2010
Posted From: 5.81.65.10
Posted on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 09:19 am:   

“You are deep inside this dream, all right, and it is a shared mental state, so it is drawing power from the multi-consciousness gestalt…” – spoken by Santa Claus in last night’s Doctor Who.

The whole story-line reminded me of a real-time review (multi-consciousness gestalt) of Dream Sickness and the need to gain places on the surface of our planet where you can be sure that what you are experiencing is a dream or not a dream etc (cf the Zoo area in ‘Nemonymous Night’)
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.232.244.250
Posted on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 01:30 pm:   

I must admit I thought of your RTRs, Des, when Santa mentioned "the multi-consciousness gestalt" in Doctor Who yesterday!

I didn't have very high hopes for this episode - I never really do for the Christmas ones - but I actually thought it was one of the best. A most intriguing story with genuinely scary monsters. Loved the reference to the film, Alien. In fact, the whole story was a tribute to several excellent films.

Fantastic performance from Nick Frost as Santa .. and the two elves had me chuckling! And, of course, Capaldi and Coleman were brilliant. So glad Jenna Coleman is staying for another series. I think this might be the best Doctor/companion pairing since the Seventh Doctor and Ace.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.155.222.136
Posted on Monday, November 09, 2015 - 10:55 am:   

Ditto, Caroline. Who has been going against my grain for a bit so it felt nice to see a story that agreed with me fully about something.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.150.191.3
Posted on Sunday, November 15, 2015 - 11:41 am:   

Awful last night. I had to switch off.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.147.183.61
Posted on Friday, February 22, 2019 - 12:10 am:   

Ditto. This last.run was dreadful.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.180.200.78
Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2019 - 10:09 am:   

See? Last night I watch an episode I never really liked much before, Daleks Take Manhattan, and it seem to have become MORE pertinent than it ever was. Hungry people struggling to survive become...monsters.
Is that what happens? Does life and change make some stories more effective?
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.233.132.140
Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2019 - 07:17 pm:   

Yes, we change. And that's okay!
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.233.132.140
Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2019 - 07:21 pm:   

And some things become less effective. On my first viewing, Tarkovsky's STALKER was awesome (and I don't use that word casually). I thought the film might show us anything. But on a second viewing I knew it wouldn't, so it was completely deflated. I also didn't enjoy ANDREI RUBLEV or SOLARIS, so apart from IVAN'S CHILDHOOD I have a poor hit rate with Tarkovsky. I love the Soderberg SOLARIS more with each viewing though. So many levels! I hadn't noticed before that it's a religious piece too, with Earth, the space station and Solaris representing The world, purgatory and heaven respectively.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.180.200.78
Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - 09:27 am:   

There are some works (I overheard two very young women saying this in a bookshop) that are for certain age groups; The Great Gatsby is for angsty youths, for instance, and I think they are right. I thought Stalker amazing, too, but realised a good X Men movie says as much if not more. Have you seen Logan? Christ it's deep. "Leave them - help will come." " WE are the help. " And then...and then... God.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.180.200.78
Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - 12:25 pm:   

Sorry, wrote that in a very truncated manner on my smartphone and the spellchecker keeps trying to take the reins.
I think high art doesn't have the feeling of family that popular art can have, like say, a long running tv show or movie franchise. People like X Men or Star Trek people feel familiar and i think we can genuinely love them, but that doesn't hugely happen with one-off films to that same level. But I think the fact we seem to need these shows and films shows that something is perhaps lacking in life. Maybe...
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.180.200.78
Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - 01:00 pm:   

You know another film that has also got great? The People Under the Stairs. It's like it's bud has only just blossomed. Blew me away this last time I watched it.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.233.132.164
Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 - 10:11 pm:   

Yeah, 1984 is for people 30-45 I'd say. Any younger and you won't feel it, any older and you'll feel it too much.

I haven't seen LOGAN. I couldn't face seeing those characters broken down. It seems like as a society we're aching for everything to end. Maybe it's fear again, we're afraid to hope. We're a self-harming society.

The family feeling in art; yes, there's a nice sense of coming home to those things. The long-form format (today that's probably a better phrase to use than "television") has its charms. But I want the short form to flourish again. At its best, no other form or art has so many person-years of work focused into such a short time and space.

I was watching THE EXPANSE (meh) and the crew got onto a small shuttle from a much bigger ship. I realised that I subconsciously knew from the quality of the sets where they would be spending most of their time and hence where the plot would go. That doesn't (or at least didn't) happen in film when they really put money into it. Anything can happen. In particular I loved when films older than about 1980 had all their credits at the start of the film. Once they're finished, you're off-road and it feels like literally anything can happen. (I just watched ZABRISKIE POINT!)

I've never seen PEOPLE. Shame about Wes Craven. He was always an interesting speaker.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.180.200.78
Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 12:08 pm:   

Logan was very depressing. But some scenes stay with you forever. I took my wife with me to see it just after her dad died of dementia. She had seen no other X Men films. It reduced her to tears. It's well worth seeing, but you do have to brace yourself. I've seen much less accomplished Oscar winning movies.
You are dead right about knowing how something is going to pan out. I look at the netflix menu for a film or series and KNOW how it will be. Have you experienced this thing where goodness and quality is not enough? It's like there's all this skill to something, and meaning, but it just doesn't stay with you or feel 'real'? I see it often, now.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 213.233.150.44
Posted on Monday, March 04, 2019 - 12:44 am:   

Yes, I experience that all the time with newer films and television. I think it's a by-product of shallow writing perhaps? Not enough time and thought put into the script. It has to taste like a sauce that's been reduced. I've been watching THE SOPRANOS for the first time (it's 20 years old!) and the writing is excellent. You could be talking about something having pores, imperfections that stick to the walls of your mind. So much old British television has that, and coupled with good scripts and acting that makes them indelible. I'm watched a black and white play by Terrence Rattigan starring Kenneth Moore and Ralph Richardson called HEART TO HEART and it was riveting despite, or because of, the technical imperfections.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.147.183.89
Posted on Monday, March 04, 2019 - 03:27 pm:   

I think it might also come from perfectionism and maybe people in high places or the consumers themselves demanding a level of perfectionism. I think Ken Loach still eschews that, maybe Mike Leigh and a few others. I think mistakes and roughness and fluffed lines are where the humanity of the players creeps in. A horror director I was starting to get into, Jean Rollin, in his films they are so rough you get extras looking into the camera, things like that, but it curiously feels MORE real. The little bit I just mentioned, it gave me a jolt because it made me feel like the film were really happening and I might get somehow involved in it - and I felt a connection with that person.
Old Doctor Who is like this, too.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.147.183.89
Posted on Monday, March 04, 2019 - 03:38 pm:   

Rougher films; http://moviemezzanine.com/20-best-french-horror-films-ever/
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.147.183.89
Posted on Monday, March 04, 2019 - 03:41 pm:   

And yet odd, we were talking about the level of craft being important, too. Maybe a KIND of sloppy can be a high level? Maybe quality has nothing to do with work at all. Maybe it's all just like aiming a gun.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.67.252
Posted on Tuesday, March 05, 2019 - 01:52 pm:   

A lot of it is like aiming a gun. If it contains truth and honesty, the execution is secondary. (If that's what you mean).

It helps if you're a metaphor machine though.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.147.183.89
Posted on Tuesday, March 05, 2019 - 11:44 pm:   

I think I meant that. I might have meant instinctive, inner crosshairs.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 89.19.67.205
Posted on Wednesday, March 06, 2019 - 12:04 am:   

Yeah, it's almost the same thing.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.154.254.251
Posted on Saturday, March 28, 2020 - 11:56 pm:   

New Who is awful. But the rot set in with Davies's specials, Moff providing quite a few nails ... yadda yadda.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.129.77.36
Posted on Monday, July 13, 2020 - 10:19 am:   

Well, this thread was a bumpy re-read. Reading some old things you've written 10 years ago feels like waking up from a fugue state and piecing the previous night together. "I said what?"
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.155.107.182
Posted on Monday, July 13, 2020 - 01:43 pm:   

Interesting thread actually. I am rewatching the Moffatt Who run right now - time has affected them. Some are fantastic, others awful, the worst. The key thing is that River Song is awful. I realised a hero should never have a girlfriend/wife/partner, that deep down that is OUR role.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.155.107.182
Posted on Monday, July 13, 2020 - 01:49 pm:   

Weber really hated you, didn't he. And looking back, I look like nobody was noticing me much.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.129.75.15
Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - 12:43 pm:   

It seemed he did. Not sure why. For my own part, I do seem a bit prickly reading those things back, and I hope I'd be more diplomatic and sanguine today.

I noticed your posts!

Yes, characters who are full of themselves, when did that become admirable? Perhaps Doctor Who documented a period of stark change in what traits were valued in the British character. I think (true, not false) modesty and humility is perhaps the finest part of the British character.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.155.107.182
Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - 01:08 pm:   

I know. I loved old Who because the characters were kind of invisible, ordinary. The show went from making me feel I was in on something secret and lovely to feeling I was outside a house in which a huge party was taking place, and I could see people I thought I knew inside.
I was listening to a thing about migrants today. It gave me hope because a girl was saying how her fellow migrants kept telling her how good and kind to them britain was. She was talking about US, not anywhere else. I actually felt quite heartened by that.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.129.75.15
Posted on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 - 04:14 pm:   

That's nice.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.151.241.144
Posted on Wednesday, September 09, 2020 - 11:14 am:   

Posted a thing about watching an old McCoy episode on Britbox but the net snarled it up. But really, who here but me is interested?
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.11.25.247
Posted on Friday, November 20, 2020 - 01:02 am:   

McCoy isn't a great Who, is he? There are cute things about the show and the music is nice, but there's a casual air to it, like it feels it doesn't much matter.
But I'm enjoying Britbox, the app we watch it on. Lots of eighties movies with Paul McGann in. Paper Mask, where the hospitals and ambulances still lok like they are from Victorian times. But the films feel warm. The past is nice.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 212.129.74.245
Posted on Friday, November 20, 2020 - 08:48 pm:   

Oh, I can't find Paper Mask anywhere. I remember it was pretty good. A solid film aimed at adults, which are so much rarer than well made films aimed at immature adults.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.29.156.73
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 - 01:35 am:   

True.
Just watched another, from the late nineties, Down Time, again with McGann, about ten years after Paper Mask. It's not a hugely loved film but I lapped it up - it's suspenseful, a bit mad, and quite hilariously scripted in an almost hardboiled crime way, with one line that had me laughing out loud for about ten minutes. But again, it's set in a working class environment and I felt was quite realistic if heightened (nobody seems to agree on this though.). I certainly can't remember the last time I saw a character struggle down the street with the weeks shopping in four plastic bags. It struck me McGann is excellent because he always seems to rise to what is called for and seems markedly different in everything he does. I don't think he became the star he could have, I just think maybe the kind of films that could have showed him off stopped happening.
But britbox is a better platform than netflix. We use it much more and it has older stuff.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.29.152.197
Posted on Saturday, November 28, 2020 - 10:01 am:   

*
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.11.24.249
Posted on Saturday, January 02, 2021 - 11:30 am:   

Well I loved Who last night. More heart than the Moffatts I've been rewatching of late, no convoluted fussy detail, no "superhero" characters. Also, the Daleks were horrible again.
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.11.26.56
Posted on Monday, January 11, 2021 - 01:30 am:   

Why in Moff Who do we see Missy kill people simply for fun in front of Clara and then give minutes later they are best buddies? Anyone know who this was aimed at or what they expected people to feel? I don't understand it.

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