Doctor Who discussion (spoilers)

[Burt]

No not the band. Everyone's favourite Doctor (If he's not your favourite, then you may be on the wrong website) is back!
Series three is here. Just wondering who has seen it so far? Do you guys over the pond get it yet?
*Spoilers!*
(Sort of)
What did you think of episode 1? I kinda liked it...but was kinda put off by the acting of Martha....I supposed she'll grow into the role. I did like the fact that this 'gap' (Between the last episode and the this one) means the doctor could now go off and have other adventures. I mean, the each Doctor is supposed to be a few hundred years old... yet this one has been on screen since his start with no alone time... But now...for all we know years could have passed since the last episde.

Episode 2.... I thought is was a little dull.... but thats just me...

Episode 3.... I though was great!! Nice idea...slightly realistic (Anyone who's ever been on the M25 will know what I mean. 25 years stuck in a traffic jam? Pffft! They've never been into London in the daytime then.) Plus nice new plot secrets! (Even if they have been all over the net for ages!)
Looking forward to the next one too!

What does everyone else think?

[Nate the Great]

As long as the thread is relatively fresh, could someone explain this whole "every Doctor is a different aspect of the same person" thing to me?

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by Burt

No not the band. Everyone's favourite Doctor (If he's not your favourite, then you may be on the wrong website) is back!
Series three is here. Just wondering who has seen it so far? Do you guys over the pond get it yet?

Those with cable in the US are seeing Series Three. Those of us without just began seeing Series One over the last few weeks; I've seen some -- "Dalek" was the most recent of them.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Infinite Improbability

As long as the thread is relatively fresh, could someone explain this whole "every Doctor is a different aspect of the same person" thing to me?

It's pretty simple, actually. As a Time Lord, the Doctor has the ability to regenerate into a new body when his current one is irreparably injured. (It's not like transferring into a clone or something -- his old body turns into the new one.) Each body is different, including the subtle biological interactions that affect personality, so while the Doctor is the same guy, his personality is a little different each time.

The writers came up with this as a way to continue the character with a new actor, and it's served them well. Maybe a little too well -- the Doctor has only three regenerations left now. He'd better start eating his Wheaties.

(If I'm wrong about anything here, I'm sure a more hardcore Whovian will correct me.)

[PointyHairedJedi]

Some Time Lords also have the ability to change their appearance at will, but that was basically shoehorned in so that Mary Tamm could replace Lalla Ward without the need for a full blown regeneration (though why exactly they did it this way I could not say).

The first two episodes so far have been okay, but the thrid I missed almost half of. From what I did see though it's easily the worst of this series so far (not saying much, I know) - while the Macra made for a really cool red herring, and the idea in general was pretty neat, there was some stuff that didn't make so much sense.

[Nate the Great]

Whovian? Is that the real term?

Okay, thanks. I guess in the long run I'd rather have actor replacements actually replace the characters themselves as alternate versions than have the new guys have essentially identical personalities. Not that I don't like current Stargate, I love it, but I sometimes wonder how the Mitchell and Sheppard actors could fare if they didn't have to be O'Neill clones, but could use their own interpretations.

[Katy Jane]

Calling a Doctor Who fan a Whovian is like calling a Trek fan a Treky

[PointyHairedJedi]

I call myself a Whovian.

[Katy Jane]

Me too

[Nate the Great]

Just don't call yourself a Whoser, that's what you call a fan of Whose Line is it Anyway?

[PointyHairedJedi]

I was right - Gridlock was indeed terrible. The beginning and the ending made absolutely no sense in relation to each other. Either one was right or the other, but there's no logical way that both could have been. It made me rather sad that they didn't think it was worth trying to fix this - I'm almost starting to come round to Valium's view of RTD at this rate.

Fortunately, episode four was much better, and episode five looks to be a corker. Hooray for two-parters!

[catalina_marina]

Yeah but you'll have to explain this New York thing to me, I think. How is it that they're on Earth, but not in the UK?

[Zeke]

Yeah, that's impossible. It must just be a part of London or Cardiff that looks like New York.

I speak sight unseen, however. Can't wait till this stupid work is done and I can catch up on things like TV.

PHJ: Take heart. Even if you find that Valium is right about RTD now, that has no bearing on whether you were right about his previous work. Sucking is not retroactive.

[Chancellor Valium]

Originally Posted by Zeke

PHJ: Take heart. Even if you find that Valium is right about RTD now, that has no bearing on whether you were right about his previous work. Sucking is not retroactive.

Ahem.

(*Clears throat and straightens tie*)

Pathetic Earthling!

Or alternatively, PANCAKES!


That is all.

( )

@Topic:

Episode One was mediocre at best. It suffered mainly from being a Sontaran/Rutan story, without Sontarans or Rutans. It also, suffered from cartoonish animals,the ridiculous marker pen-thing gadgets, Tennant being given more silly - something he can't do well AT ALL, though this is more the fault of the stupid writing than anything else, IMO. By my sword, Bloodaxe, this was bad!

Episode Two: Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Episode Three: OK. Now we're getting somewhere. This one was mediocre. Which, on a relative scale, in relation to other RTD proferrings, makes it about an 8/10.

Episode Four: Might have worked without the pigs. WHY PIGS?! Also, the stupid bisexual reference was shoehorned an unnecessary, a continuity cock-up on a grand scale by claiming that it was during the Time War that Skaro was destroyed, Daleks Jules and Sandy were almost as camp as usual, the worst American accents I have yet to hear, and a plot that was just a tad bit limp. The direction was good, the sets were good, the acting was reasonable, and most of the dialogue was OK-to-good. The Laslo subplot was nauseating. 5.5/10 absolute score, 10/10 on the 'RTD-is-thick-as-two-short-planks-so-let's-pretend-it's-worth-more' scale.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Chancellor Valium

5.5/10 absolute score, 10/10 on the 'RTD-is-thick-as-two-short-planks-so-let's-pretend-it's-worth-more' scale.

You know, there was a guy who used to review Voyager and give each episode two scores. One was the "real" score, and one was the Voyager score, since, he reasoned, Voyager sucked more than any other show and therefore needed a shorter scale to look remotely good. His condescension was so far advanced that he actually considered this a gesture of generosity and fairness.

Would you like to see where I buried that guy?

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by catalina_marina

Yeah but you'll have to explain this New York thing to me, I think. How is it that they're on Earth, but not in the UK?

Originally Posted by Zeke

Yeah, that's impossible. It must just be a part of London or Cardiff that looks like New York.

Originally Posted by Zeke

You know, there was a guy who used to review Voyager and give each episode two scores. One was the "real" score, and one was the Voyager score, since, he reasoned, Voyager sucked more than any other show and therefore needed a shorter scale to look remotely good. His condescension was so far advanced that he actually considered this a gesture of generosity and fairness.

Hmm, it wasn't Whettestone, was it? Sounds a little too clever.

[Zeke]

No, it was just a reviewer whose Season 3 recap I stumbled upon once. Some would-be successor to Tim Lynch. I could probably find it again if I really wanted to, but what's more clichéd than returning to the scene of the crime?

[mudshark]

Only some random internet weenie, then.

Naah, no point digging it up -- just momentarily curious, but it passes.

[Nate the Great]

Ah yes, The Cynic. Great reviews. No one could succeed him.

[PointyHairedJedi]

Originally Posted by catalina_marina

Yeah but you'll have to explain this New York thing to me, I think. How is it that they're on Earth, but not in the UK?

They did actually go to New York for a bit of pre-production filming (if that's the right term) - stuff that was added to the episode as compositing, basically. In that episode's Confidential, RTD stated that they went out of their way to avoid street scenes, etc., hence most of it thus far has either been indoors or in a park. He also made the interesting statement that he feels this is the first proper outing for the Daleks so far, as the previous stories as been more in the nature of 'events'.