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The Doctor Who Thread.....


Greg1138

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I didn't figure it out for myself, either. Heck, I wish that I had not read up about some of Captain Jack Harkness' character traits before viewing the episode with the Ninth Doctor that introduced him. I would have liked to see if I could have figured it out for myself. I probably would have. He's a very enjoyable character, and I look forward to switching over to Torchwood at the correct time in the storyline.

Though I did notice the line Anne Droid dropped about the Great Cobol Pyramid being built on the Institute's ruins. I would not have noticed that before if I wasn't keeping my ears peeled.

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  • 3 weeks later...

One aspect of this show amuses me, though I understand that it may be a necessity. Since 2005, we've had three actors play the Doctor: Eccleston, Tenant, and Smith, as 9, 10, and 11. And many episodes show that the Doctor has visited and been documented in Earth's history. The first episode of the Ninth Doctor showed him in various photos collected by that conspiracy theorist, and the face is clearly Eccleston's. We watch Tenant as the Tenth Doctor light the torch at the 2012 London Olympics, and it was the Tenth Doctor who appeared to Elton when he was a child -- and Elton immediately recognized him in later years as having the same face, as opposed to Rose, Jackie, Mickey, and Harriet Jones, who all questioned the Doctor's integrity after regenerating. And of course, Amy and Rory read a book that showed the Eleventh Doctor (Smith) throughout history.

My point is, whenever the stories show the Doctor's adventures through the past, he has the same face as whichever Doctor is the "current" incarnation that the primary timeline is following. Oh, we listen to David Tenant's Doctor discussing the events of the late 1970s and early 1980s with Sarah Jane, played by the same actress as back then, but we don't get to "see" these as flashbacks because they would require a different actor.

Is this to keep the cost of the show low, so they can minimize paying the classic actors for archival use of footage? Or to keep the show simple enough for lay viewers (cough cough, Americans) to watch without asking who the old blokes are? Or have I just clearly not watched enough episodes yet?

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Good point. I think the writers are keeping it simple for the viewers. They want us to focus on one Doctor at a time. When the show came back for a one-off pilot episode back in the 90s the writers made the mistake of showing a regeneration 20 minutes into the show, when we're just starting to get to know the 7th Doctor. Then suddenly the viewers (who are already trying to get to grips with the world of Dr Who) have to accept this new guy as the Doctor before they really got to know the guy who'd just died. It was a huge error of judgement on the part of the production staff/writers. When RTD brought the show back in 2005, he brilliantly decided to introduce the Doctor through the eyes of the character Rose. We don't know who he is when he first appears, and we gradually get to know him as Rose gets to know him. Wisely, no mention was made of his ability to regenerate until right before the moment when it actually happened. Thus the show and it's ways is introduced to the new audience in much the same way as it was originally, back in 1963. The original series didn't make much reference to previous Doctors until it had been running for 10 years, and we got The Three Doctors special story as an anniversary treat. Other than that, I think the production team want to focus all attention on the current Doctor and not complicate things too much.

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Wisely, no mention was made of his ability to regenerate until right before the moment when it actually happened.

Not explicitly, no. But I do remember in the 2005 pilot, the Ninth Doctor made a comment about his face that suggested he was seeing it for the first time when he looked in the mirror in Rose and Jackie's flat.

"Ah... Could have been worse. But look at the ears... "

Those who are familiar with the series would get the hint drop, but it would just zip over the heads of everybody else as not being important, which it's really not. Like you said, we get to know Doctor #9 through the eyes of Rose without any baggage.

Now that I thought about it some more, the closest that I've seen us come to showing multiple doctors in a single non-regeneration scene in the modern era is when the Eleventh Doctor introduces himself to the Atraxi with the blue holographic flashback that shows various species and historical events of the Whoniverse, ending finally with a quick montage of all previous Doctors that #11 steps through. "Hello. I'm the Doctor."

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  • 2 weeks later...
Wisely, no mention was made of his ability to regenerate until right before the moment when it actually happened.

Not explicitly, no. But I do remember in the 2005 pilot, the Ninth Doctor made a comment about his face that suggested he was seeing it for the first time when he looked in the mirror in Rose and Jackie's flat.

"Ah... Could have been worse. But look at the ears... "

Those who are familiar with the series would get the hint drop, but it would just zip over the heads of everybody else as not being important, which it's really not. Like you said, we get to know Doctor #9 through the eyes of Rose without any baggage.

Now that I thought about it some more, the closest that I've seen us come to showing multiple doctors in a single non-regeneration scene in the modern era is when the Eleventh Doctor introduces himself to the Atraxi with the blue holographic flashback that shows various species and historical events of the Whoniverse, ending finally with a quick montage of all previous Doctors that #11 steps through. "Hello. I'm the Doctor."

"Multiple Doctors in a non-re-generation scene"?

How about the goodbye scene in "The Five Doctors"?

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Is this the prequel from the other day? If so, its interesting to see a different take on the Doctor than we've gotten so far, though I'd hope that his character doesn't change too much. I really like Troughton 2.0

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Actually, it's a brand new story, that is only available on download, or dvd to order via the internet.

It features Paul McGann, and Toby Jones (as the Dream Lord), and, from what I can make out, it is set near to the end of the Time War.

P.s HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOCTOR!!! 49yrs. old, today. Roll on Saturday November 23rd, 2013...

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Actually, it's a brand new story, that is only available on download, or dvd to order via the internet.

It features Paul McGann, and Toby Jones (as the Dream Lord), and, from what I can make out, it is set near to the end of the Time War.

P.s HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOCTOR!!! 49yrs. old, today. Roll on Saturday November 23rd, 2013...

Oh, you mean Dark Eyes, the 4 part Big Finish story. Haven't had a chance to pick it up yet but I've heard good things.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looks like we're in for another Season 18 style reboot starting with the Christmas episode, The Snowmen.

http://www.combom.co.uk/2012/12/new-powerful-theme-tune-and-title.html

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I don't like the new look.

I liked the steampunk, warm TARDIS with a glass floor. After that, I don't want anything else. They managed to make it look funny instead of a typical cold, plastic TV science-fiction set. *Cue older fans getting away from me in disgust*

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Well, I just caved and saw a picture of the new set. It looks great. A nice modern take on the old Tardis, and finally gone is that stupid warm color scheme. I never liked it and wished it left when Moffat first took over.

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Maybe the TARDIS shouldn't be strictly "cold", or "warm". It could be thought of in a way that changed depending on the needs of the scene and what is logical whithin the scene. Going from a place where someone lives to a strange, mysterious place and so on. I'd like that.

Honestly, I find some things in the new set to be a bit grating to my eyes. The blue circular things on the wall, the boring floor, and the figures and "columns" and designs on the walls look far less interesting than in the two previous sets, not to mention the main console part (no idea what it's called right now).

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So what did people think of the Snowmen?

I personally liked the new title sequence, though I would have preferred a more classic version of the theme rather than just the current theme basically reorchestrated, but I still like the fact that the titles weren't so dependent on the wormwhole this time.

As for the episode itself, I thought it was just ok. Coleman looks like she'll be a good companion, though hardly different than any other Moffat female we've seen recently. Also felt that Grant and the GI were criminally underused and would have liked more to their confrontation.

Regarding the new Tardis, I love it. I like the distressed look on the outside and the inside finally feels like the Tardis to me. Never cared for the previous two designs.

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I think she'll make a good companion, but overall I didn't really feel this episode added up to a whole lot. The snowmen were pretty scary at times, but somehow the story didn't really engage me much.

I really liked the 'face' in the new title sequence, and I think the Tardis is neat too. Also, is this the first time the camera has actually followed them right inside with no cuts? Obviously they could do it because the heavily CG'd cloud set could cover up the Tardis set.

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Yeah, it really didn't feel like much more than an extended intro to Clara Oswin Oswald with some mild threat (similar to The Power of Three being rather lackluster threat-wise). I loved the face in the intro, though I would have liked it a bit more obvious (maybe not have his face as blended into the clouds), though its exactly the way I wanted the face to be reintroduced into the titles.

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I cheered when I saw Smith's face in the titles! I love it (the titles, that is, not Smith's face).

The story was good - at least it was better than last year's fiasco - and the references to The Great Intelligence were a nice touch: Ian McKellen's voice had just the right amount of soft menace.

JLC is alot better than that awful fishwife, and her drippy husband. I never wanted Adric to return so much, as when Amy Pond was on-screen.

I love the TARDIS interior, also,and the trailer bodes well for the 50th anniversary year.

For the philatelists among us, the GB Post Office will be issuing a set of 11 stamps next year, featuring each Doctor, and a set of 2nd class stamps with enemies. Everything's coming up Doctor!

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The opener was a fun romp. And on a note more related to this forum, I'm loving Clara's theme (or is it a theme specifically for her relationship with the Doctor?). Gold really takes it for a spin in the scene where she wakes up after being knocked out and talks to the Doctor from the upstairs window.

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Probably River or Sally Sparrow, considering she owns a shop. But probably River.

How's everyone feel about the news that Tennant and Piper are coming back for the anniversary? Personally, I'd love to see the rest come back and maybe they still will, but I'm glad at least Tennant is coming. I always thought he did his best in Moffat's episodes so hopefully he'll be back and not too over the top like he was at the end. As for Rose, as long as we don't see the extended family I'm fine with her coming back. I hated how much of the families of the companions we saw during RTD's tenure.

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I watched "The Five Doctors", the other day, and, although I enjoyed it, it did turn into a bit of a nostalgia-fest (ooh, look, there's Mike Yates/ooh, look, there's Zoe, etc, etc). I really don't want this to happen to the 50th. Ann. It should be about The Doctor, and him only.

Tennant's return is very welcome, Piper's return...is not...although I would cheer if Ian Chesterton turned up, as it was planned for him to do so, in "Mardwyn Undead". Returning companions work better in "smaller" stories ("MU", "School Re-union", etc.), and not the "event" stories.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Long story short: I was just showing my daughter with the iPad the various versions if the Doctor Who theme over the years (she calls it "the bbbrooom bum bum song") and YouTube being the way it is I happened onto this:

Can someone kindly tell me what is this Murray Gold cue called? What would be a good cue sample list be for his work on the show? A taster.

I like what I hear.

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Oh, boy.

That cue is new, I think. It's from the current season. So it'll be unrealased for a while. I don't expect them to leave that off the CD...

His work is pretty awesome, some cool cues here and there. Fairy tale twinkling music, big epic melodies, "slapstick" music, weird effects for different characters and ideas, some RC stuff as well, even Bond like music at times... a fun melting pot.

I started doing a cue by cue analysis on his work on the last two episodes of season 5 but I accidentally deleted it halfway through when my big hard drive catastrophe.

Some tracks from the CDs (I haven't heard everything):

Little Amy

The Silurians

A River of Tears

Day of the Moon

The Pandorica

Words Win Wars

Amy's Theme

The Life and Death of Amy Pond

The Sad Man with a Box

Abigail's Song

Victory of the Daleks

etc etc

This from the top of my head, naturally his work is more extensive and is diminished by being relases of one or two CDs for entire seasons.

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That clip is from a few weeks ago, so it's not released yet. But chances are good that it will be on a forthcoming CD.

I felt that the two double disc sets (seasons 5 and 6) were victims of the permitted space, and included too much filler, whereas the first three CDs forced Gold to pick only the absolute best stuff.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm working to catch up on the current season. The other day I watched "A Town Called Mercy."

The Doctor made a big issue about Kahler-Jex being a war criminal. He agreed with the Gunslinger that Kahler-Jex should be tried and sentenced (nah, just executed, he's already guilty!) for his crimes against his race by turning them into cyborgs.

But...are we supposed to just forget that the Doctor is also basically a war criminal because of his role in The Last Great Time War?

Is all forgiven because the Doctor and the Master worked to reseal the Time Lords and Gallifrey back inside...wherever they sent to. And since Kahler-Jex never brought it up, it would indicate he knows nothing about it. Or it's been erased from universal memory because of the lengths the Doctor went to to fake his death. Either way, the Doctor wasn't going to bring it up to Kahler-Jex because that would indicate he's lowering himself to the level of war criminal, which makes him unqualified to judge the mad scientist. Since The Last Great Time War isn't something the Doctor talks to Amy and Rory about, they don't mention it either.

Or have the writers simply stopped mentioning The Last Great Time War because that is SOOOOOOOOO Series 1-4 (not to mention Davies, as opposed to Moffat)? I thought this was a lost opportunity to show insight into the Doctor's memories of what he did. If "The End of Time" said all it had to about the war, then I suppose we have to keep looking forward to the new arc.

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The last series has been so far a disaster. Several episodes with good ideas turned into complete wrecks because of the script. Some boring/incosequential episodes. And flashes of brilliance here and there.

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Can't say I agree.

Just judging the back half of episodes, the only ones I didn't think were great were Rings of Akhaten and The Crimson Horror. I think the season's been pretty good, with a lot of different styles. I think the chemistry between The Doctor and Clara is very good as well and feels like the Doc is actually the star of the show rather the companion as its tended to be since the revival.

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The actress is good (and very attractive, also!), but they haven't handled her character as well as the way they introduced Amy's story.

Amy had something going on besides the weird stuff around, which was merely hinted at (and made the ending of season 5 more powerful). While for Clara for several episodes it's all been about her weird situation and not so much her character. Hell, you could even excise her out completely from episodes like Cold War and the story wouldn't change.

The Asylum episode was flawed. The dinosaur episode was bleh. The western episode felt completely disconnected, irrelevant, too formulaic. The episode with the cubes had a nice idea but the execution was terrible and it made no sense. The episode with the Angels was good, although a bit dramatic for the sake of being dramatic. I enjoyed the next two. The Snowmen again became formulaic but enjoyable. The one with the wifi was good ("my mobile phone" lol), although not perfect. Akhaten was a good mesh of everything good and everything not good with Doctor Who. Cold War was... I dunno. Hide was good, again it felt like it was about something and it had some nice scenes and a bit of a sense of wonder. Journey to the Center of the TARDIS was a magnificent idea ruined by the writing. I don't feel compelled to see the latest one but I'm curious about Gaiman's episode and Moffat's finale.

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Chac, you really should watch "The Crimson Horror". it is the most out-and-out entertaining story from this season, and it's a pleasure to see Diana Rigg hamming it up!

"Horse! You have failed in your mission!" I like Strax.

The Tegan joke is priceless!

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Is it? I've never looked at "Midnight" that way. Perhaps I should revisit it. "Deconstruction", eh? Well, it has got Pat Troughton's son in it, after all.

Yeah, "TL" is amazing, and it leads directly into "Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End", which is probably the most absurdly entertaining of any DW story. Pure joy! Graeme harper really outdid himself on that one.

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I rather enjoyed "Midnight," now that Chaac is piling on the praise. I definitely see the "deconstruction" aspect.

Why does the Doctor always succeed? Because people usually defer to his wisdom and determination to allow him to pursue a solution. But what happens when the Doctor's life is just as much at stake as the people around him? When there's a "monsters on Mulberry Street" type paranoia going around, where nobody knows who they can or can't trust, and this arrogant and admittedly non-human individual might be the source of the conflict? His only response is "because I'm clever" but these people don't buy it. Hell, even the professor is trying to out-Doctor the Doctor by knowing what can and cannot be fact about the planet Midnight. It's an interesting episode.

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