Doctor Who

Not as good as last week, but I really like the relationship that is building up between Amy and the Doctor.

I also enjoy seeing this flawed side to the Doctor.
The fact that he doesn't know everything, and that the solution didn't come to him with a *click*. Someone else had to save the day. It was good to see Amy do something other than look around in awe

The parallel between
The Doctor and the Space Whale
was beautifully poetic aswell, I thought.

It loses marks for no explanation about the Smilers.
Are they still there now? Are they still going to try and 'feed' the whale? Exactly what difference is there going to be other than the whale no longer being tortured?

So, I'll give it an 8.5/10. High marks for the great relationship between the Doctor and the companion, the scene in
the Whale's mouth
, and the resolution.
It slacks a bit for its many unanswered questions. It just made the ending seem a little less...polished.

Oh yeah, everybody....
Say 'WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!'
:D
 
Buffy_09 said:
It loses marks for no explanation about the Smilers.
Are they still there now? Are they still going to try and 'feed' the whale? Exactly what difference is there going to be other than the whale no longer being tortured?
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You're right, it is a bit of an odd "unanswered question".

The Dr Who website says that the smilers are androids, designed to keep watch over the humans, and the winders are the humans who look after/repair them. The smiler-winders are half human, half android. They were set up to be the "bad guy" of the ep, but it turns out they weren't.

I kinda want to say I like the fact it wasn't entirely explained. Yes, it leaves us wondering a bit, but it would have avoided putting more exposition into what is (thanks to the 45 minute timeslot) already a fairly action-packed Dr Who episode every week.

Also, for UK people of the right age : The Demon Headmaster! :D
 
teeb said:
You're right, it is a bit of an odd "unanswered question".
The Dr Who website says that the smilers are androids, designed to keep watch over the humans, and the winders are the humans who look after/repair them. The smiler-winders are half human, half android. They were set up to be the "bad guy" of the ep, but it turns out they weren't.
I kinda want to say I like the fact it wasn't entirely explained. Yes, it leaves us wondering a bit, but it would have avoided putting more exposition into what is (thanks to the 45 minute timeslot) already a fairly action-packed Dr Who episode every week.
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my guess is that after everything was sorted out, there probably wouldn't be any need for them and therefore discontinued. presumably it was meant to be something that we weren't probably meant to think about again after the reveal happened.
 
again, fucking brilliant! According to the confidential Karen is 5'9", the perfect dreamgirl, as I'm 5'11"

I do wonder about what the ubernerds will say at Planet Gallifrey, about the episode.
 
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That last thing was a completely different thought that the Karen thought.
 
I thought the ep was ok i felt the pacing of the episode was a little off maybe it would have been better if it was a 1 hour ep instead of 45 minutes.
 
I think I know my problem with the new theme is, the lack of bass.
vs.
 
I really like the new theme, has a kind of "doomsday" (no, not the ep)/apocalypse style feel to it. Then again, I've only heard a cruddy 40-second recording of it. I'm glad they only updated the old one & not completely re-did it. I love the old one. :)
 
this has been on the main news today. apparently the whole regeneration gimmick was meant to be a representation of a bad LSD trip.
i am honestly surprised though that given the amount of negative press by viewers when they thought they heard him say "At least i'm not ginger" after his regeneration (when he actually said "Still not ginger"). No one has made a comment about Amy Pond's choice of career as a Kissogram. i thought there would have been at least one religous nutjob out there who would have complained about it.
anyway here's the article.

Doctor Who's regenerations were modelled on bad LSD trips, internal BBC memos have revealed.

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The Doctor's transformations were meant to convey the "hell and dank horror" of the hallucinogenic drug, according to papers published on the BBC Archive. Regenerations were introduced in 1966 to allow writers to replace the lead actor. New Doctor Matt Smith is the 11th Time Lord. The papers also reveal the difficulties of bedding in a new Doctor. In an internal memo dating from 1966, producers outlined how the original Doctor, William Hartnell, would be transformed for his successor Patrick Troughton. It also tackled the "horrifying experience" of the regeneration.
"The metaphysical change... is a horrifying experience - an experience in which he relives some of the most unendurable moments of his long life, including the galactic war," it said. "It is as if he has had the LSD drug and instead of experiencing the kicks, he has the hell and dank horror which can be its effect," the memo added. Discussing his appearance, the document stated: "His hair is wild and his clothes look rather worse for wear (this is a legacy from the metaphysical change which took place in the Tardis)."

The documents also reveal how new Doctors have faced hostility from viewers. Some members of the audience felt Troughton "exaggerated the part".
"Once a brilliant but eccentric scientist, he now comes over as a half-witted clown," said one viewer.
Another told the BBC's Audience Research Department: "I'm not sure that I really like his portrayal - I feel the part is exaggerated - whimsical even - I keep expecting him to take a great watch out of his pocket and mutter about being late like Alice's White Rabbit."
His successor Jon Pertwee fared a little better in 1970, although a research report following his first appearance declared: "Reaction to this first episode of the new Dr Who series can hardly be described as enthusiastic." Tom Baker's debut also drew much criticism. "General opinion was that the new Doctor Who is a loony - he is an eccentric always, but the way it was presented made him stupid," said one viewer.
And in 1984, Colin Baker proved to be a turn-off, with one viewer finding him "too stern" and another "too aggressive". Reaction to Sylvester McCoy's debut in 1987 was even worse. His "approval rating" was considerably lower than Colin Baker's, although the reception given to his sidekick Mel, played by Bonnie Langford, was worse.
Roly Keating, the BBC's director for archive content, said: "The whole idea of regenerating the Doctor was a flash of genius that's kept Doctor Who fresh and exciting for 47 years now. "As we welcome Matt Smith and Karen Gillan into the Tardis, it's the perfect moment to remember his predecessors and also to celebrate the work of the BBC Archive in preserving these documents and photographs for future generations."
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Original Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8616413.stm
for the BBC Archive regarding Doctor Who, it can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/changingwho/index.shtml
 
^ I think that these 'unknowns' and unexplained things are good. It tells you at the end that they weren't really all too important, and leaves you thinking about something.

teeb said:
Also, for UK people of the right age : The Demon Headmaster! :D
Click to expand...

I KNOW! I'm just old enough to remember that. I was so hoping he would be the headmaster of the school on the ship :lol:.

Anyway, other than that, its great to have Doctor Who back, and how amazingly great it is to see now just how old Tennant was becoming. Sure he was great, but some change was definitely needed. And we got one hell of a lot of change - excellent! Two brilliant episodes so far, can't wait for the rest.

Also - enough about the British army Daleks - SPACE SPITFIRES - HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!
 
It's unreasonable to summarize Matt Smith's performance only based on 2 eps, but its a great testament to his acting that in just 2 eps he's so mecurial in his portrayal of the Doctor. Hope he keeps it up for the run of the series but that has to be so gdamn exhausting...
 
Speedtouch said:
Also - enough about the British army Daleks - SPACE SPITFIRES - HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?!
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Come on, this is a car forum. Surely the jokes must fly about British-built Daleks.

...Actually. Now that I think about it. British-built Daleks might just be the Doctor's best friend!

"EXTERMIN--*whrrr*CLUNK!"
"...What was that?"
"Oh. They do that sometimes. Just needs an oil change, some new smoke for the wiring..Talk to that guy Lucas, he'll explain it.."
 
Finally got around to getting/watching the two episodes so far. Vury good. Moffat > Davies. Davies was all about cheesiness and deus ex machinas and destroying London. Goodonya, Moffat, leave question unanswered, life goes on when The Doctor leaves and we have no reason to expect everything to conclude and wrap up nicely and all our questions to be answered before he rushes off somewhere else.

Also, I'm liking the new pair. And the settings are shaping up to be much better/less campy than before, and the improved effects and HD are certainly welcome.
 
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After spending the night awake thanks to hayfever, i spent some time reading Russell T Davies Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter. Its a fantastic book about where RTD got his ideas for the fourth series of Doctor Who and the 2009 specials. Normally i hate RTD and i often found some of his scripts a bit childish. However after reading the book i grew to appreciate not only what Davies had done but also the amount of effort that had gone into writing those scripts. It would be incredibly easy to say that all that effort was for nothing, but i do know how difficult it can be to write interesting and thought provoking material. It was worth it alone to read about how Davies had originally created a new companion for Season 4 called Penny Carter and how much of her story had been fleshed out. When Catherine Tate came aboard and returned as Donna Noble for the Fourth Season, Penny was consigned to the bin and wouldn't be taking her place on the TARDIS. Reading how Davies cared for the character and the doubts about returning Donna Noble, it could have been amazingly simple to have just given up and gone for Penny. Davies took a bold step and he at least has to be given credit for that.
Other things like how close Dennis Hopper came to appearing in Doctor Who, the identity of the Woman in White in the 2 part "End of Time" and how Davies reacted to the comments made about Helen Raynor on the Outpost Gallifrey forums (a forum which i still believe is populated by fanboys who still have yet to figure out what a girl is for), remain some of the stand out points in the book for me
anyway, after all that i figured in Top Gear tradition. How Hard could it be? how difficult would it be to write a Doctor Who story. Not a simple short story but a full on tale about the twilight of the gods in the Time War. The Time War remains one of the most untapped story potentials in the Doctor's tv history and i had always imagined how it would have occured and it would have been played out. So since i couldn't sleep i thought, what the hell. i might as well give it a shot. So after firing up the kettle i sat down behind the computer and plotted out a quick outline of the overall storyline. Some i had already thought about and ideas that were early as back in the 2005 first season of Doctor Who, some whilst reading Jack Kirby's Fourth World, others had come to mind after watching the 2009 specials.
Anyway for all to enjoy, here's how i would tell the tale of the Doctor's Darkest Hour.

Doctor Who: Time War
(First Draft, April 2010)

-Doctor 8.5: in between Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor and Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor. There exists the Time War doctor. This Doctor is the one who fights in the Time War and starts off very heroic before gradually becoming more broken down as the war drags on. This Doctor should be a mix of David Tennant's Tenth and William Hartnell's First. He should speak with a air of authority and his youthful appearance belies the knowledge underneath.
-Earth/Gallifrey. Revelations are made that Earth is the home of the next race of the Time Lords. The Time Lords seeded earth when it was young in the hopes that if their race would ever die, some part of them would live on. This explains the resemblance between the Time Lords and the Human Race and also why the Doctor frequents Earth so much.
-Anti Time: At the start of the war, a ancient race discovers the secret of Anti-Time. Something that scares the Time Lords, it threatens their place in existence and could destroy them. the time lords wiped out the alien race to prevent that knowledge from becoming reality since it could destroy the Space/Time Continnum. Later on another race is on the verge of discovering Anti-Time, the Doctor is sent to sabotage it but this time the discovery falls into the hands of the Daleks.
-The Nightmare Child: A sentient Black Hole. It is Galactus/Unicron/Anti-Monitor and the Death Star all in one. To see it would drive any sentient insane. It speaks through dreams and the image of a child. It feeds on the core of planets and it is on no one's side but its own.
-The Moment: a weapon developed centuries ago by the same race that discovered Anti-Time. Knowing that their race was being wiped out by the Time Lords, they developed a weapon that would counteract the Anti-Time threat but also the Time Lord threat. It would essentially burn a planet and remove it from all history. The Doctor would eventually use this weapon on his own people as he realises that once the Time Lords have won the war, they will become something of a dictatorship.
-The Time Lords: Ancient, knowledgeable and wise. At the start of the war they are the force of good. As the war drags on, they gradually become embittered and manipulative. Forcing others to do their work. The return of Rassilon begins to alter the Time Lords into his own army. Believing themselves to be Lords of Time they should also be Lords of Order and Reality. Gradually they become as corrupted and vile as the Daleks themselves.
-The Daleks: After learning of the Time Lords involvement in attempting to eradicate their existence. The Daleks are on a war of vengeance. Seeking technology and weapons to aid them in a war against the Time Lords. Their desire to find this technology allows them no remorse in the path they follow. They will crush any who stand before them and enslave those behind them. After the discovery of Anti-Time they will finally have the weapon that will put them on a equal war footing with the Time Lords and put them on the path to the Time War.
-The Skaro Degredations: Mutants that were created by the Daleks to be footsoldiers and the insects that would keep their empire running. Some of them are from the worlds conquered by the Daleks, altered to serve them and free will stripped away. They are mindless and they are used by the Daleks as cannon fodder.
-Changes in History/Future: Due to the Time War, cracks and alterations are made. The Dalek Invasion of Earth never happened, influences by the Doctor's previous selves are forgotten. Other worlds 'forget' about the Daleks and the Time Lords, turning them into myth and legend. Due to the paradoxical nature of the Time War, the events that occured 'before' the war (the original Dr Who series) all begin to disappear 'after' the war leaving time on a more fluid and unpredictable path (The relaunch series). One side effect of the war, Torchwood comes into existence.
-The Crucible: The Dalek Flagship and where Davros leads his Dalek army. After his attempt to detonate a Anti-Time bomb inside the Nightmare Child. Davros decides to flee into the Nightmare Child rather than face being captured by the Time Lords knowing that his Daleks will continue the war. The unexpected arrival of Dalek Caan allows Davros a path out of the time lock barrier of the Time War.
-Resurrection: Because of the damage caused by the Daleks, old enemies and allies long dead are resurrected. Rassilon and the Master are brought back from death both soon working for the Time Lords, for a moment the Time Lords take the upper hand in the War until the Master eventually betrays the Time Lords and abandons them, fleeing to the end of time and breaking through the Time War barrier. Rassilon assumes control of the Time Lords and with no one to stop him, begins turning them into his own personal army.
-The White/Black Guardian: After observing for centuries the White Guardian intervenes and saves the life of the Doctor and puts him on the path to finding the Moment. After the war both the White and the Black Guardian leave existence stating that the Doctor must now control the fates of the universe, making him a lonely god.
-The Last Child of Time: The Doctor, after ending the Daleks, Time Lords and putting a end to the Time War becomes the Last Time Lord. However the White Guardian, in one last act and saving the Doctor's life. Regenerates him into the Ninth Doctor and gives him infinite Regenerations so that there will always be a Time Lord to watch over existence.
-The TARDIS: The Blue police box time machine remains the same throughout the Time War and despite the war footing, it never becomes a weapon. The TARDIS is heavily damaged at the end of the war when the Doctor uses the Moment. Both he and the TARDIS regenerate into new forms which lead into the Ninth Doctor and the Coral Control Room of the TARDIS.

also, please be nice. this is the first time i've posted something i've been writing online for the world to see. criticisms accepted but i'd rather leave out any of the negative stuff in the Gallifrey Base forums.
 
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- I really like the "cracks eradicating the old Who events" thing, it is a great way of explaining away the paradoxes between the old and new stories- very inventive!
- I also agree that the use of the "moment" should be what caused the Doctor to regenerate, perhaps because the "moment" required so much life force/energy that when combined with the pain of all the people you love and the world you know dying that he basically had to regenerate to try and give himself a new "force"?
- I've also had a little thought that the "moment" sent everything in the Time War into the void. I don't really know why, but it just seems like the Doctor in the series 2 finale was very knowledgable (more than usual) and emotional about it.

Sorry I can't give you more detail, I'm not very good with creative writing :lol: But it is really good though, I think you've done a really good job of writing a really believable (within Who canon) but unique (i.e. not like the crap fan-fiction that every man and their tin dog can write) proposal! I agree with you though, GB can be quite freaky at times, and too serious and not able to deal with people who show any emotion apart from negativity/an excessive level of excitement about Doctor Who (and nothing else in life). Hence I've stopped posting in most sections except the merch and periodicals areas. They tend to be tamer.

And I take it that the final tale "sequel" (for want of a better term) is pretty good! I'm thinking of buying it online, is it really worth it for a big new-who fan?
 
brydiem said:
- I really like the "cracks eradicating the old Who events" thing, it is a great way of explaining away the paradoxes between the old and new stories- very inventive!
- I also agree that the use of the "moment" should be what caused the Doctor to regenerate, perhaps because the "moment" required so much life force/energy that when combined with the pain of all the people you love and the world you know dying that he basically had to regenerate to try and give himself a new "force"?
- I've also had a little thought that the "moment" sent everything in the Time War into the void. I don't really know why, but it just seems like the Doctor in the series 2 finale was very knowledgable (more than usual) and emotional about it.

Sorry I can't give you more detail, I'm not very good with creative writing :lol: But it is really good though, I think you've done a really good job of writing a really believable (within Who canon) but unique (i.e. not like the crap fan-fiction that every man and their tin dog can write) proposal! I agree with you though, GB can be quite freaky at times, and too serious and not able to deal with people who show any emotion apart from negativity/an excessive level of excitement about Doctor Who (and nothing else in life). Hence I've stopped posting in most sections except the merch and periodicals areas. They tend to be tamer.

And I take it that the final tale "sequel" (for want of a better term) is pretty good! I'm thinking of buying it online, is it really worth it for a big new-who fan?
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thanks for the info, much appreciated! i'll take on board your suggestions. the idea that the "moment" was responsible for sealing the Time War was something i had never thought of and yet it kind of just 'fits'
the book is really worth the money. the book is basically told through e-mail correspondence between RTD and Benjamin Cook (who writes for the Doctor Who Magazine). If your really interested in what goes on behind the scenes then its worth its weight in value and i don't normally recommend books because like movies and games, they can be tricky things. But for a Doctor Who geek it really is interesting reading. RTD does tend to waffle on at times, but the way he describes how he writes (he even says that aspiring writers shouldn't copy him but should listen to their own style) and the way he panics when he struggles to get a script together is great reading.
 
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