The Doctor Who Thread.....

[Wycket 36]

Brilliant?

Ummm...OK.

Six parters in Classic Who often feel this way, and personally I agree with you on Genesis as I've never viewed it in nearly high regards as most do. If I had to recommend you a classic Tom Baker to watch, I'd actually recommend either Deadly Assassin or City of Death. The former is the first look we get at Gallifrey, and Baker is trying to unravel a conspiracy. Some of the sets are a disappointment, but otherwise its a great little story and a very important one for the series. As for City of Death, its written by Douglas Adams so of course it has more of a comedic edge which is nice and also features Julian Glover playing a great villain.

As someone new to older Who, if you do intend to keep going I definitely recommend staying away from 6 parters or longer for a while. They definitely become a chore when you realize that they just add them getting caught and escaping a bunch of times to pad out the episode times.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Smith and Jones

Hey! This is really great fun!

Introduces Martha Jones. In retrospect she is looked upon as the least interesting of the regular assistants, but that doesn't actually mean she is bad. Freema is certainly not a great actress, but she is rather stunning to look at, she has a certain radiance.Not sure making her fall in love with The Doctor is the cleverest thing the writers could have done. This ep spends quite some time setting up her family, but there is no real pay off for that because they hardly figure in the rest of the season. Her mum features the most, but never becomes a character like Jackie Tyler or Donna's mum.

The Judoon are a fun race, looking for an alien sucking blood through a straw at a hospital transported on to the moon!

Elements of this, a shapeshifter in hiding in a hospital, aliens looking for it with no regards to the humans would be redone in The Eleventh Hour.

The Shakespeare Code.

From the actor they eventually hired, it feels very obvious they wanted Kenneth Branagh to play the Bard. Nice idea to have Shakespeare be a bit of a womanising ruffian.

Like Smith and Jones another fun, special effects filled hit and run episode, filled with fun references to Shakespeare and even Harry Potter.

Gridlock.

Finally season 3 gains some depth. Martha asserts herself a bit when she gets The Doctor to talk with her instead of at her.

A sequel of sorts to New Earth, where once again paradise is not all it looks.

Tennant gets to show signs of actually caring about Martha, and utters some prophecies of doom. (love it when the Doctor starts to threaten)

Musically speaking this is quite an important episode for the series. Even though The Runaway bride introduces The Doctor Forever, and it's been played in the previous two. Gridlock is the first episode to really bring out the theme and make it shine. Both in it's hymn like, almost "religioso" setting (at this point RTD was slowly moving towards making The Doctor more powerful and Godlike) and in it's heroic form.

Gold wrote a theme called The Doctor's Theme for season one, but has used it only very sparringly, usually only for the sort of mystical side. The Doctor Forever would pretty much become The Tenth Doctor's personal theme.

Also this is the fist episode to use All The Strange Strange Creatures, which would become the default action theme for season 3 (actually it would be overused in some eps, that seem to just have it running on a loop, like 42)

The ending, with Tennant describing Gallifrey, underscored by a rather lovely hymn, with beautiful CGI vista's of New New York is actually rather moving.

Better the the previous 2 episodes, because it has more then just fast paced action, spectacle and cleverness.

The theme for The Face of Boe, which has the same ending as The Doctor Forever returns here to cement the connection between the two ancient aliens.

Brilliant?

Ummm...OK.

Six parters in Classic Who often feel this way, and personally I agree with you on Genesis as I've never viewed it in nearly high regards as most do. If I had to recommend you a classic Tom Baker to watch, I'd actually recommend either Deadly Assassin or City of Death. The former is the first look we get at Gallifrey, and Baker is trying to unravel a conspiracy. Some of the sets are a disappointment, but otherwise its a great little story and a very important one for the series. As for City of Death, its written by Douglas Adams so of course it has more of a comedic edge which is nice and also features Julian Glover playing a great villain.

As someone new to older Who, if you do intend to keep going I definitely recommend staying away from 6 parters or longer for a while. They definitely become a chore when you realize that they just add them getting caught and escaping a bunch of times to pad out the episode times.

I certainly wanna check out Deadly Assassin. Is Revenge Of The Cybermen worthwhile?

Question for KK, have you checked out the 1996 TV movie?

[Wycket 36]

I wouldn't necessarily recommend Revenge of the Cybermen. Its not bad, but its not really good either. Definitely one of the less Cybermen stories. If you want something early to watch of Baker, Ark in Space is for you. Its at the same location as RotC (so maybe you could watch the two together as companion pieces) and is very similar to Alien in ways. Of course the bright BBC lights ruin any mood or suspense, but I'd be shocked if Scott didn't see it at some point before filming (after all, he was supposed to design the Daleks so he was already connected to the show).

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I agree. I saw it and it was passable. Not as slow ass as the Dalek story. But very mediocre.

The Deadly Assassin is nest I guess. I'll miss Sarah though. She is rather stunning. Young or old.

[KK 3,307]

Question for KK, have you checked out the 1996 TV movie?

Nope.i haven't dared attempt pre-reboot Who. Not sure if I can take it.

Oh and I think Martha is the weakest assistant in the reboot. Started alright, but eventually turned for the worse. Not to mention I wasn't a big fan of that finale...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No Torchwood either?

Watching The Deadly Assasin now. Plays on Gallifrey.

The Time Lords, such a pompous race. Dusty senators, so frightened of change.

[KK 3,307]

Is Torchwood worth checking out?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes. I'm not a big fan of the first season. But season 2 is excellent. The 5 part season 3 is damn good gripping TV also!

If you love RTD's big emotional moments season 2 has a few doozie's!

[Quintus 5,399]

Emotional by tv sci-fi standards, yeah!

[KK 3,307]

It may not be Breaking Bad, but Doctor Who has a whole lot of heart to it Quint.

I don't know about Torchwood though...

[Brónach 1,302]

It may not be Breaking Bad, but Doctor Who has a whole lot of heart to it Quint.

And it doesn't make you feel shitty afterwards.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Emotional by tv sci-fi standards, yeah!

By any standards actually.

[Quintus 5,399]

I was just seeing what you must feel like in the gaming thread.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I know that all to well.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,528]

No Torchwood either?

Watching The Deadly Assasin now. Plays on Gallifrey.

The Time Lords, such a pompous race. Dusty senators, so frightened of change.

Peacful, to the point of indolence.

Yeah, new Who is emotional, but it takes its cues from a new way of presenting stories.

"ROTC" is good, but for pure entertainment value, I prefer "Earthshock". Poor old Beryl Reid...Actually, "The Invasion" is a true classic of old Who.

"City Of Death" has the distinction of having the most watched episode (it explains why on the text commentary) and an absolutely priceless visual gag with Eleanor Bron, and John Cleese.

"The Deadly Assassin" (can you ever have a polite assassin?) is good, as it re-establishes The Master.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Daleks In Manhattan / The Evolution Of The Daleks

This 2 parter is generally not well regarded among fans I believe. Like Victory Of The Daleks. Which actually are two Dalek shows which attempt news things.

The Daleks are a very popular, but also very limited villain. There isn't all that much you can do with them.

This 2 parter genuinely tries. But the ideas are better then the execution.

The Human Dalek Sec is an interesting idea, but either the casting ot the make up ensures that we dont really care much.

And the pig slaves arent explained much? It's the second time walking pigs are seen on the show (Aliens of London)

The New York background is interesting, and I like the actress who plays the showgirl.

Enjoyable two parter, with some interesting concepts. But not a classic.

[Melange 446]

I'm not sure that putting the Doctor into a woman's body would be effective.

How about regeneration into the body of a 6 year old, who has to be led around everywhere by the hand?

It would address social issues of physical limitation and vulnerability while harbouring a great ancient intellect.

In doing so, his assistant would be called upon much more (raising awareness about the trials of home carers).

You know, a kind of Stephen Hawking situation (or Balok from Star Trek TOS)

Melange - Just having a laugh. Doesn't give a toss about Dr Who

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Are you and Lee even English?

This is your heritage!

[Wojo 2,453]

That's like believing all Americans are Yankees fans. It's an inherently racist notion.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

But they are!

Utopia

In same ways a very schizo ep. Everything about the Silo, the Futurekind, the Utopia project looks and feels quite low rent. 100 trillion years into the future and humanity still uses trucks? and computer keyboards, etc etc...At no point does the production or the writing attempt to really make it seem like it's in the far far far far future. If these storylines were the point of this ep it might have been the worst eveer.

But it's just background noise for the stuff that matters!

Jack Harkness returns (suddenly funny again after being quite dour and serious in the first series of Torchwood) Barrowman is fun to watch.

Derek Jacobi is very good in this. Both as the old man trying to get humanity to Utopian (no one does absent minded like Jabobi). But when things turn dark, and Yana realises who he really is. He makes for quite a grandiose Master.

The moment when he opens the watch, just as the rocket launches, with Murray Gold's frantic, nervous staccato brass playing is fantastic!

And the actual cliffhanger isn't bad either!

The very lazy Utopia stuff prevents is from becoming a perfect episode, but it works where it matters.

[KK 3,307]

Loved Jacobi in that episode.

[Melange 446]

This is your heritage!

It is, but I consider Doctor Who to be something I was a fan of from age 7 till 15. It doesn't transfer across well to adulthood, for me.

Only because of family gatherings I've ended up seeing a handfull of David Tenant and Matt Smith episodes, but I find the whole format so over the top now (every episode has to be an apocalyptic epic finale, it seems) compared to how I remember the Baker, Davidson, Baker and McCoy format. I know the kids still enjoy it (my nephew etc) as I did back then, but it's just not my cup of tea (Earl Grey, hot) anymore.

[Brónach 1,302]

Here most people who like Doctor Who are in their 20's and didn't know it when they were kids, followed by a group of a decade older people who happened to see the classic DW on the local TV in the 90's.

(every episode has to be an apocalyptic epic finale, it seems)

Even though it's not always true, this is a complaint I sometimes agree with.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,528]

But they are!

Utopia

In same ways a very schizo ep. Everything about the Silo, the Futurekind, the Utopia project looks and feels quite low rent. 100 trillion years into the future and humanity still uses trucks? and computer keyboards, etc etc...At no point does the production or the writing attempt to really make it seem like it's in the far far far far future. If these storylines were the point of this ep it might have been the worst eveer.

But it's just background noise for the stuff that matters!

Jack Harkness returns (suddenly funny again after being quite dour and serious in the first series of Torchwood) Barrowman is fun to watch.

Derek Jacobi is very good in this. Both as the old man trying to get humanity to Utopian (no one does absent minded like Jabobi). But when things turn dark, and Yana realises who he really is. He makes for quite a grandiose Master.

The moment when he opens the watch, just as the rocket launches, with Murray Gold's frantic, nervous staccato brass playing is fantastic!

And the actual cliffhanger isn't bad either!

The very lazy Utopia stuff prevents is from becoming a perfect episode, but it works where it matters.

I like "Utopia". It's a shame that Graeme Harper didn't complete the The Master trilogy.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I don't see see a huge difference in direction in the other two parts.

The Sound Of Drums

About as good as Who gets. Exhilarating, brilliantly plotted, emotional, apocalyptic and epic!

John Simms makes his Master into a demented, but wisecracking baddy. He and Tennant share a great phonecall

This ep does a good job in making The Master's presence felt all over. The Doctor, Martha and Jack seem outmatched from the start.

The cliffhanger is one of the best. Even though, if youy think about it it's the same as all RDT cliffhangers. (RTD always end the first part of his season 2 part closer with a vast army, preferably airborne, bearing down on innocent humans)

Murray Golds music is outstanding. i love the 2 themes for The Master. The 4 note drum beat and the swirling string motif. All The Strange Strange Creatures gets a work out, as does Martha's Theme and there is some very nice material for Gallifrey and the Timelords.

Not a lot to nitpick. I guess the clichéd red dynamite stick bomb pasted behind Martha's TV set and found JUST in the nick of time is a bit ridiculous. And at one point soldiers shoot Martha's car and there is no damage at all.

Stellar ep!

Last Of The Timelords

It's still good...just a notch down. The main problem is that the Doctor is barely in it. Aging Tennant in the last part was a cool idea. Turning him into Dobby the House elf was not. Jack is also criminally underused.

Freema has to carry much of the episode and actually does a good job with it. Simm fill out the rest at his ever more demented master.

The main problem is the climax. I can forgive a lot of RTD's silly plotting, vague and rushed notions of sci-fi and camp pop culture stuff because he does know how to tug the heartstrings. But this time he misfired.

Dunno if it's the concept ot the execution. But the "resurrection of the Doctor" just doesnt work.

Also the "Turning Back The Earth" bit they stole from Superman feels like a cheat.

Tennant and Simms do have some good stuff right after that. Never knew a Timelord could chose not to regenerate. (it seems out of character for The Master)

I did like the way Martha departures.

I guess the problem with Martha is that she was...when it's all said and done. The Doctor's rebound. And our rebound in effect. Just what we needed at that time, but not something destined to last for a long time.

Even in this 2 parter, her family didn't come to live as much as Jackie Tyler did. That's basically 3 boring characters wasting screen time.

I think the writers made a mistake with making Martha so obviously in love with The Doctor. It's a plot line that can't really go anywhere. Since the Doctor can't respond to that. It would be completely out of character.

And will they/won't they plot lines are such a cliche anyway. They are all over television. Doctor Who should be different.

RTD made the right decision with Donna Noble being repulsed by the idea of any "funny business" with The Doctor.

Martha would return for series 4 of course. They all do! Russel T. Davies seems like a writer who falls in love with his characters, and finds it hard to part with them.

Overall, good. But a underwhelming

Only because of family gatherings I've ended up seeing a handfull of David Tenant and Matt Smith episodes, but I find the whole format so over the top now (every episode has to be an apocalyptic epic finale, it seems) compared to how I remember the Baker, Davidson, Baker and McCoy format. I know the kids still enjoy it (my nephew etc) as I did back then, but it's just not my cup of tea (Earl Grey, hot) anymore.

I guess it's the reverse for me.

The Deadly Assassin.

Again, this supposed classic is just OK to me. It's interesting that we see Gallifrey. But basically all the Timelords we see are stuffy toffs. Basically the home of the Timelords is populated with The House Of Lords!

Classic Who never bothers to build a sudden exciting revelation. in the revamped series, the return of The Master is greeted with pomp and circumstance. Loud epic music, special effects, dramatic editing to create a momentous effect. Here in this serial it's just mentioned in an off hand way by Tom Baker. No sense of mystery, drama. Very mundane. Classic Who is in many ways the reverse of the revamped (or regenerated series) Very stiff upper lipped. And a bit stodgy.

The City Of Death

Now this one is more like it. Co written by Douglas Adams and it shows. I read that reviews at the time were very critical of the light tone and the comedy. But that's actually what makes this ep very entertaining. This seems much more tailored to Tom Baker's eccentricity. Romana is a companion who actually disagrees with The Doctor from time to time. The character of Duggan is a bit over the top though. Trying to basically beat up everyone or break glass.

Julian Glover makes for an excellent foil. Playing it staight against Tom's tomfoolery.

The writing on this one is very well doen. I like the time travel plot. The concept of an alien being shattered into pieces scattered throughout time. You can see that a bona-fide sci-fi writer like Adams was involved in the show.

I guess The Doctor is very much a product of the era of production. Tennant and Matt Smith are tailor-made heroes for these times. Ultra-geeks, blabber mouths, not a hint of macho in them. Never fight.

Tom Baker is typical of the 70's. Heavy set. Slightly gruff demeanour. Very manly. Charming, but can actually throw a punch.

This ep make me realize something. Classic Who, the stuff I've seen generally plays it very straight. No comedy in the way that the regenerated series has oodles of. City Of Death is funny! That's why it works.

Short but hilarious cameo from John Cleese.

[KK 3,307]

(every episode has to be an apocalyptic epic finale, it seems)

Even though it's not always true, this is a complaint I sometimes agree with.

As do I.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Oh definitely!

I've been thinking. For the 50th anniversary episode. You figure they are gonna kill of Rose?

Seems a bit underwhelming to let her just have a cameo. I mean she's mentioned on the poster even.

It would not surprise me if Moffat kills her off in some way for dramatic effects and to create a motivation for the Tenth Doctor.

[Wycket 36]

This ep make me realize something. Classic Who, the stuff I've seen generally plays it very straight. No comedy in the way that the regenerated series has oodles of. City Of Death is funny! That's why it works.

Short but hilarious cameo from John Cleese.

The only Doctors that are really funny in Classic Who are Tom Baker (especially during Douglas Adams tenure but for most of the second half of his run) and Patrick Troughton. All the others have humor, but these are really the two comedic Doctors of the classic era. Sylvester McCoy comes close, but misses the mark most of the time in my opinion.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yoyage Of The Damned

Continues the tradition of having not or barely featuring a regular companion in the Christmas special. So far only rose featured full time in one, and Amy a bit. Clara did also, but as a different character of sorts.

Funny, spectacular, clever. But lacking any real emotional punch. (Minoque does her best as Astrid Peth, but weirdly, she lacks screen presence.)

Tennant is one again in great form, and this episode slowly begins to nudge the character to some of the material he will be dealing with in series 4, and the specials.

More and more the Doctor is being portrayed as God-like. Wielding power, but possible not the wisdom to be as master of live and death. The Doctor Forever sounds more epic then ever in this score, and Tennant is even carried by angels near the end of the episode. (after his Christ like resurrection of sorts in Last Of The Timelords) .

The rest of the cast consists of the usual array of character actors from the UK who all do the job nicely. this episode introduces Bernie Cribbins to the series. Though as a different character as Wilf (something that would be retconned by the time series 4 started)

Not the classic that The Christmas Invasion is, and as a companion of sorts Astrid is only barely adequate. Still fun entertainment with some smashing special effects.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Partners In Crime

The return of Donna Noble.

While following a similar structure to the previous "new companion" season openers (Rose and Smith and Jones), the fact that The Doctor and Donna already know each other gives RTD the change to play around with the theme. He gets good comedy mileage out of the 2 characters near meetings. (the mime scene where they finally run into each other is hilarious)

In the mean time we get a sense of Donna's home life. The obligatory annoying mum (who hates the Doctor) but also grandpa Wilf. Again Cribbens brings a lot of joy to his role

Back in the day quite a lot of people resisted the notion of Donna becoming a full timer. Tate brings some depth in her performance, while never forgetting the comedy element. Eventually those who bashed the inclusion of Donna in Series 4 would be crying there eyes out at it's conclusion.

It's actually a good idea. A slightly older woman, who isn't in love with The Doctor, and able to see him in a different light.

Like all "new companion" episodes the plot is a bit secondary. The Adipose are well done though. An interesting change from the usual deadly Alien.

Billy Piper's short, wordless cameo still game me a shiver down my spine for some reason

The Fires Of Pompeii

Scorching episode! (pun intended).

Sets up a strong moral dilemma without giving the Doctor an easy escape, like Boom Town did.

Tate shows her metal as a Donna who takes her stance and MAKES the Doctor save a few lives.

The special effects for the eruption are well done. the final shots of the ash engulfing the city are very dramatic

Looking at the episode now it's a bit weird seeing "Amy Pond" running around in the background in another role. In a year or so it will look even weirder when we see the 10th and 12th Doctor interacting.

I wonder if this episode will represent some kind of fixed point for the makers of Doctor Who, and over time other who were in it will feature as Doctor's, companions etc etc...

Excellent episode that really brings series 4 to a flying start.

[Quintus 5,399]

You guys... Peter Capaldi is gonna be fucking awesome as the Doctor. I might even have to start watching it myself.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He looks perfect for the role.

Planet Of The Ood

Another one where the show takes an ethical POV and doesnt entirely shy away from it. The deck seems pretty stacked. Ood are harmless and docile, the humans are ignorant or evil (in a way this story would be remade in 3D by James Cameron, with blue CGI aliens).

The writer did insert a clever little line where the Doctor tells dDonna that the children who made her cheap clothes are slaves too. A concept that she brushes away without really thinking about it (like most of us do)

The Ood are the most enigmatic of the aliens devised for the regenerated series. The song Murray Gold composes for them is lovely.

Percy from Blackadder makes for a good villain (nice pay off). This episode is quite violent for who standards

The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky

Martha and Donna together is only the second time a current and former companion have met in the regenerated series.

They deliberately avoid the "handbags at dawn" scenario from School Reunion. To hilarious effect.

This ep continues the tradition of taking a current topical trend (sat nav or GPD if you are an American) and making it dangerous or scary

The Sontarans make for effective villains. both funny and fierce looking. Once again the special effects are very good for BBC TV

I actually like the way they brought back Martha. The character is well used, both for the plot and to underline the difference between her and Donna.

Donna's family features again. with a couple of very moving scenes between her and Wilf. Cribbins actually got this role by by unfortunate circumstances, (the actor playing Donna's dad in The Runaway Bride had died) but brings an enormous amount of warmth and emotion to the role and indeed the series.

Very good 2 parter. Not one of the classiucs, but a step up from the writers previous contribution (The Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution Of The Daleks)

The Doctor's Daughter.

A "meh" episode. Actually the one one of this series.

No reason to have Martha in this one at all. I dont like the concept of the Doctor's Daughter in the way they did it here. If you are gonna go with that title, you better come up with something extraordinary and gripping.

I guess it had an effect on the world of Who because Tennant later married the woman who played his daughter, who herself is a daughter of a man who once played The Doctor. (it's not actually as creepy as it sounds)

The Unicorn and the Wasp

Very fun pastiche episode that takes all the cliché's of a Agatha Christie novel and has a laugh with it.

The third time, after Dickens and Shakespeare that a famous British author features alongside the Doctor. There are countless references to her works and has a nice theory about her famous 10 day disappearance.

The episode loses steam a bit near the end trying to explain who exactly everything feels like an Agatha Christie novel, and conjures up a somewhat half arsed explanation for it. But great fun.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Silence In The Library / Forest Of The Dead

Moffat's last contribution to the series under RTD's tennure, and possibly his best work.

Lays some groundwork, either by design or by accident for his time as showrunner.

The structure is very similar to a Moffat era ep. Starting at a later point in the story and then working back, narration, the "everbody lives" concept and of course River Song.

Pretty much everything works. The performances, (Alex Kingston is fabulous) the direction, the beautiful but dark look, the music and the effects. The Vashda Narada are a very creepy concept and work well.

Both River's death and her (sort of) resurrection are among the strongest emotional moments of the series.

Scriptwise the only flaw I find is that the virtual reality world CAL lives in is the 21th century. Which doesnt seem to make much sense

one of the absolute best stories.

Midnight

Plenty of times Doctor Who has been scary in it's long history. But only rarely has it flirted by prolonged, psychological terror. Conceived as a budget episode it hardly features Donna and puts The Doctor in an enclosed space, with some ordinary people and introduces an unknown terror.

Midnight is by far the scariest episode of Who. Starting with the loud metallic banging, to the creature methodically learning and repeating every word.

The big trick in this episode is that the passengers slowly turn from a pleasant company to a desperate, panicking mob wanting to kill. Due to panic response and mob mentality.

Even though the episode takes place i outer space, in some future time, RTD's scripts avoids any sci-fi when it comes to the characters of this story. They look "normal", have 'normal"names, "normal" clothes etc etc.

Tennant's Doctor feels at his most vulnerable here. Cybermen, The Daleks and the Vashda Narada may cower back at the mention of his name, but here he seems helpless.

The writing in this episode is stellar. Tight as a drum. Inventive and damn effective. The ending is maybe a slight let down. (though I'm not sure if knowing more about the creature would have helped or hurt the episode)

Excellent!

Turn Left

Series 4 continues it's run into brilliance with this great story. One of RTD's finest. It shows a world where The Doctor never survived beyond The Runaway Bride. A world that must face Sontarans, Max Capricorn, the Judoon etc without him. And a Donna that never meets the Doctor.

Tate gives her finest performance thus far as Donna Noble. Brash, obnoxious, but hiding deep insecurities. Barely able to cope in a Britian which is slowly turning into a fascist state. S craking scene shows and Italian family taken away to "labour camps. With Wild understanding the euphemism.

RTD has been seeing the return of Rose Tyler throughout the series, and her first approach here still gives me goosebumps.

Turn left works in all sorts of ways, as an introductory to the big (very very very big) series finale, as a time travel story, but also as a personal story about Donna. Her sacrifice is similar to that of Pete Tyler in Father's Day.

I seem to remember in an interview Billie Piper said she struggled getting back into Rose. It shows. Her voice is different. (sounds like she had dental surgery or something) She even looks slightly different. Thankfully her performance would improve in the next 2 eps.

The ending, which hails the destruction of the universe, underscored by All The Strange Strange Creatures, the TARDIS cloister bell and the words BAD WOLF everywhere is one of the best WHO cliffhangers ever.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Stolen Earth

After the tighly wound, focused character pieces Midnight and Turn left Russel T. Davies goes hog wild, throws all caution to the wind and indulges his fancies. Creating a stupendous, epic fan wank of an episode.

The Doctor's regular companions, their mums, the Torchwood team, Sarah Jane Smith, Daleks, Davros, and last but not least Harriet Jones (former Prime Minister)

All wound up in a spectacular episode full of inventive plotting, exposition, explosions, CGI Daleks flying through the eternal night. Alien planets in the sky!

Billie Piper is in MUCH better form as Rose. I'm not fond of her portrayal as a female rambo though. With a big huge enormous gun, hardly flinching as stuff explodes around her. (it gets much more interesting during the video conference where she can watch but not interact, and she becomes quite the envious Rose again.

Also very nice that Donna doesn't seem to feel in any way jealous of fearful about the possibility of Rose returning. (After Sarah Jane and Martha, that was done to death)

This episode is completely over the top, beyond all reason. But it sure is fun! (even the To Be Continued text is in HUGE 3D letters and crashed unto the screen in epic dramatic fashion)

great cliffhanger in where almost everyone is about to die killed by Daleks, and the Doctor regenerates

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Journey's End

The epic stupendous-ness continues, and even more people the Doctor knows are added. (Jackie, Mickey and the tin dog) in a thinly veiled story that when you think too deeply about it doesnt hold much water, but if filled with individual scenes of awesome! (the German speaking Daleks)

Amidst all this tom-foolery is some great dramatic stuff though. The Doctor is finally confronted with the result of his actions, and his (sometimes) hypocritical nature. The pacifist who have caused so many to die or kill for him.

While this episode is enormous fun, it has to be noted that it's so jam packed full of plot ideas, characters, and exposition that both the return of Rose Tyler and the return of Davros aren't quite what they could have been. I would have traded the Jackie/Mickey stuff for some more scenes with Davros or Rose.

For most of the episode Russel T Davies throws in everything but the kitchen sink....no...everything including the kitchen sink.

But in the end the companions of yesteryear all saw their goodbye and the episode delivers it's final dramatic punch. The rueful fate of Donna Noble is even worse then Rose's in Doomsday. Because she goes back to the shallow, annoying character she once was. The final moments between The Doctor and The Doctor Donna on the TARDIS are heartbreaking. The scene where Wilf says goodbye to the Doctor on behalf of a Donna who cannot do that any more is also moving.

Unlike other series finales this doesn't end with a cliffhanger for the Christmas special, instead it finished on the shot of a saddened David Tennant. And it's better for it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Doctor Who (1996 TV movie)

There is an uneasy alliance between Doctor Who fandom and this made for TV movie. Parts of it worked and were developed further in the spin-off media, other parts that didn't were quickly forgotten and only talking about in dismissive tones and hushed whispers.

I've read that some fans completely dismiss this movie and don't consider it part of the canon. But this one-off simply is not that easy to forget.

It plainly opens with Radagast McCoy. The, at that time, still incumbent 7th Doctor. And we see his transformation into the 8th, who would, despite the many shortcomings of this "American approach" be a much loved caharcter with a highly successful spin-off range.

The 2005 series started from a different point, but neither confirmed nor denied the existence of this TV movie, or indeed the existence of the classic series in it's first year. The definitive connection with Classic Who was not made untill School Reunion. But it was not untill series three that the 1996 TV movie, or at least one aspect of it was considered canonical (the 8th Doctor appearing in a drawing)

So what to make of this strange beast?

Looking at it now it serves as a half way point between the classic series and the 2005 one. It looks and feels like an American production of the 90's. but in it's shooting style, editing, music etc it also feels not unlike what Dr Who would become. It still feels rather modern

Paul McGann actually makes for a rather splendid Doctor. Nervous, energetic, funny, charming and heroic. It's easy to see why fans took him into their hearts. And it's actually a shame that this is still almost 20 years later his only filmed performance of the character.

Daphne Ashbrook is excellent as his sort of companion. She has a good chemistry with McGann and looks really gorgeous actually.

Sadly Eric Roberts is quite inefficient as The Master. At one point he looks like The Terminator. And the Asian kid who helps him is just annoying.

the plot is the usual "new Doctor" kind of story line. The Earth/Universe is about to be destroyed, and The Doctor needs to win the confidence of a person to be able to save it.

The look and budget seem decent enough, certainly more polished then most of the 2005 series.

Taken on it;s own it's quite decent rainy sunday evening viewing.

Parts that seem off.

The Daleks sentencing The Master to death. Particulary the voices. Daleks on helium.

"The Doctor is half human" This concept was probably the aspect most reviled about this movie.

The Doctor romantically kissing (in the 2005 series, this has sort of happened several times...kind of. But it's still a touchy issue. Tennants Doctor seemed more receptive to this, while the Matt Smith Doctor just seems to fine kissing "icky")

Referring to The Master as a "rival Timelord".

Just the general feel of a lot of it. Too American.

Parts of this TV movie have been references or re-used in the 2005 series in one way or another though.

The meta-crises Doctor from the end of series 4 is half human.

The Eye Of Harmony is the powersource of The Tardis, as seen in series 7 (this contradicts the RTD era though, where the Doctor had to park the TARDIS next to the Torchwood rift a few times to power up)

The more cluttered look of The TARDIS (although the control room looks much bigger, and we would not see any of the other rooms again until the Moffat again)

The yellow cloud emerging from The Eye Of Harmony is similar to the regeneration energy seen in the 2005 series.

The time vortex seen in this movie looks similar to the vortex in the 2005 show.

Again. It's an anomaly in the series. And I'm glad it never went beyond the pilot. Still I'm also glad it exists.

[Brónach 1,302]

"The Doctor is half human" This concept was probably the aspect most reviled about this movie.

Neil Gaiman seemed determined to refute it in his second episode. Not a human brain, not even sightly human!

Personally, I'm going with the Gaiman here. What's with this obssesion to make heroes always human, sort of human or half-whatever? It doesn't even change anything here!

River was part Time-Lord and it still came out as Mary Sueish...

The Doctor romantically kissing (in the 2005 series, this has sort of happened several times...kind of. But it's still a touchy issue. Tennants Doctor seemed more receptive to this, while the Matt Smith Doctor just seems to fine kissing "icky")

I think Matt said his version of the Doctor is asexual. I don't know about Tennant. I normaly figure the Doctor tends to be around the gyneromantic asexual spectrum.

Of course, if the Doctor was ever a woman, some damned writer or executive would insist on changing that, and hooray homophobia and misogyny!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

If Matt Smit's Doctor is not asexual, he at least has no interest in shagging human females.

If you compare Tennants and Smith's characters then you see that the 11th is played as a bit more alien, and confused by human behaviour.

[Brónach 1,302]

Yes, they had to do that on purpose to repare the damage.

I also have the impression that he still saw Amy as that little girl, so when she tried to kiss him he was like "WHAT" on top of the whole human kissing thing.

He does kiss River. Even though she's not there. Actually I don't understand that.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm not really a fan of Rivers inclusion in that ep. Not the way it was done. The ghost image River from The Library.

[Wojo 2,453]

That quote was taken in 2011, long before the Doctor married River. It's a shame to think it was a loveless marriage because Alex Kingston is a fine woman.

I don't like how asexual now means lack of interest in sex. In biology we learned that amoebas are asexual because they reproduce through mitosis. Use something like antisexual or something.

Didn't the Doctor have a family in the very early years of the show? The First had a granddaughter or something. Rose was never able to get much out of him. Retcons. I suppose.

[Brónach 1,302]

I'm not a fan of the whole "you should have faded by now"/"YOU MUST DIE ALREADY" thing going on there. It was weird. It was un-Doctorly. It pissed me off too.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Doctor mentions having had a family at different points during the revived series. But always in vague terms. Like almost anything Gallifrey related.

[Brónach 1,302]

That has been around since the beginning.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Planet Of The Dead

The first one in HD. Fluffy and enjoyable. But also quite forgetable.

[Quintus 5,399]

Stefan, WHY haven't you watched The Thick of It yet? Engleesh boy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5iRmPBve80

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

What would you advise after I finish Who? That or Twin Peaks?

[Quintus 5,399]

The Thick of It. Because humour always trumps everything else, and because we'll be able to drop in choice quotes into our posts. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's on Netflix!!!

[Quintus 5,399]

Viewing info/tip: be sure to watch the two xmas specials directly after season 2 and before starting season 3. That's Rise of the Nutters ("nutters" refers to party rebels btw) and then Spinners and Losers. You're fine after that.

The movie (In the Loop) can be watched at any time because it's completely unrelated to the tv series (but just as fucking sharp).