Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room Doctor Who?

I see we don't have a Doctor Who thread, like most other forums seem to, so here it is if a little belated as the fourth series is well and truly over (mind you I'm only just catching up) and Tennant is practically on his way out.

There seem to be mixed feelings about the "new" Doctor (even tho he aint even started yet), Matt Smith Matt Smith, ie. like him / don't like him / who gives a monkey's....

Glad to know your opinions, experiences about the classic series, the 21st century series, the various actors and (yawning already) the new guy....

Ooooh - good idea D! And as I got Planet of Evil and Destiny of The Daleks on DVD over xmas - not a moment too soon!

Matt Smith - I saw him in that Billie Piper thing by Phillip Pullman (no idea what it was called) and he was OK. No issues with him being the new Who from me - let's wait and see how he does.

I've not seen Matt in anything.

He looks a bit strange & quirky maybe that will fit the part.Have to wait & see.

The way he looks reminds me of the actor Crispin Glover (Marty's dad form the Back to the Future movies)

Well, thankfully it wasn’t James Nesbitt, but Matt who?

It just left me somewhat dumbfounded, obviously I’m from a generation where the Doc was always a wise old man in his various guises of professor, clown, shaman, adventurer and eccentric, so having a guy who looks like he’s taking a break from fronting an indies band, or playing a young heart-throb schoolteacher in Hollyoaks, has really left me wondering if this is going to turn into a Peter Davidson moment for me all over again… :rolleyes:

Personally I was cheering for Paterson Joseph he’s got a great voice, and was fantastic as Mark’s scarily over-confident boss Johnson (balls of steel) in Peep Show.

I got The Beginning and Trial of a Timelord box sets for Xmas as well as the Pertwee classic The Claws of Axos... very much looking forward to seeing these.

As for Matt Smith... well, I'd never heard of him. Initially, the idea of a Doctor younger than myself just seems like a bad idea. To me he's a 40-something (if not older) mature bloke.

But, having watched matt in an interview, I found him to be very charismatic, despite the lack of eyebrows (surely a core element in having charisma), very mature for his age, a good and interesting face with lots of personality and a strong voice.

I think he will be good. I have a good feeling about his casting.

And as the show has been reinvented for a modern audience, a young leading man at some point was inevitable - and why not? We've had the 30-something Doctors in Peter Davison and David Tennant, the 40-and-overs in most of the others, and the even older than that category with William Hartnell and Peter Cushing if you count the big screen movies from the 60s.

The Doc was young at some point, and there's no reason why he can't regenerate into any age, so I'm all for giving something new a try. If Matt plays the role well and brings to it what it needs, then his age isn't an issue.

my favourite Doctor was John Pertwee...

I’ve only seen The Claws Of Axos twice in my life, when it was first shown on TV in ‘71, at a period when I first got to watch Who regularly at the moment Pertwee morphed into appearance, (although I have very vague toddler memories of Troughton, and something to do with giant crabs!).

I saw The Claws Of Axos again after 30 year’s, in 2002, when I turned on UKGOLD one weekend morning at 6am and unexpectedly saw the whole compressed version of that story. How strange it was to sit there having woke up early due to adult worries keeping me from sleep, and watch those gold faced aliens like I had travelled back in time along with the doc, and Pertwee looking so unchanged, exactly as I remember him when I was a primary schoolchild. I’d forgotten just how cool he was, (Tom Baker had later successfully ‘exterminated’ him from my mind).

There was undeniably a comfort level for me as a child in seeing these wise older looking adult’s play the part of this guy who never appears to be afraid of anything, always wryly responding to any situation almost as if he already knows that the outcome will be a good one, and I guess deep down that kind of certainty linked to the appearance of age and wisdom never really leaves you.

Have to agree that Matt most definitely has a very charismatic face, much like some of the previous doctors before, but no eyebrows, oh dear he’s failed already! and where would Roger Moore have been without his when the plot called for a highly skilled response

Judging by the clips they showed in Dr Who Confidential of Matt in other things, I would say he is likely to be very very good - his versatility and charisma already shines through. I will definitely miss David Tennant though.

Am I the only one who would like to see a casting completely out of the box: e.g. a female Doctor? Or one who really looks like an alien?

According to the old folklore, won't the next one be his last regeneration? If so, we're running out of time to be creative with this ...

Yep!

I've been mulling over that lately. They'll find a way round! The Master has been in his final regeneration since 1973!

They could even make new serieses based on past Doctors - but at younger ages; ie casting actors (I'd probably get shot for posting this idea on any of the Who forums) who are like young versions of ex-Doctors.

Sean Pertwee as a younger third Doctor would be good (although, yes, we do know that he was already mature when he regenerated!).

Or it could be a young first Doctor - the 'early years'...

Like I said, I'm sure they would find a way - the great thing with the scope of Doctor Who is that you can really take it in any direction.

Before Eccleston a few names were bandied about - one of them being Joanna Lumley! I don't think Lumley would of been right but if the woman is a powerful enough actor I don't see why not.

Alex Kingston who appeared in one of the recent episodes, would also be a good candidate.

Sadly, some men barely out of sixth-form will be unable to deal with it as usual, but after a few episodes I think most people would adjust.

Joanna has a lot of charisma and voice for sure, fun thought for a moment, but can you imagine if Jennifer Saunders turned up as an assistant, fabulous or not

That's the kind of choice I would make - think Sapphire from 1981. Actually, David McCallum would be a good choice if they choose to go older once more.

Let's not forget the Doctor's 'daughter' who dies then regenerates at the end of episode 6 in the last series..... ready to do 'a whole lot of running'

Whilst the good Doctor was away from our screens - did anyone else read any of the novels that came out? I ignored them completely until a kind soul lent me Alien Bodies, Interference 1 & 2 and The Princess of Henrietta Street among a few others...Damaged Goods was another one - superb book from Russell T. Davies.

Alex S, just remembered seeing this 'groovy' trailer on YouTube last year, but I would guess that as a fan you've likely already seen these repurposed clips :

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SumY-OX1-4M

Brilliant!!

We don't need some kid with no eyebrows. We've already had "Camp" doctors. The last one being McCoy. What a sound choice that was.
Troughton. Need I go on?

{controversy_mode}
How about giving the Doctor role to Jennifer Saunders, and the assistant role to Catherine Tate?
{/controversy_mode}

No.

http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/news/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=12897762>1=61503

almost, but not quite

DW Geek mode engaged - news on casting for Easter special 'Planet of the Dead': BBC news

http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/news/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=13342121>1=61503

Martin Clunes! :rolleyes:

...a narrow escape there

First pic of new fresh faced Doc and companion:

guardian.co.uk

Yes, seen this too. It reminds me very much of the Peter Davison days in Dr Who at this moment. Not thats theres anything wrong with that, its understated, i just hope the storylines and 'action' is not too OTT, as its been so often. :rolleyes:

Some linkys -

http://www.sfx.co.uk/resources/sfx/doctor_who_003_wenn5326133%5B2%5D.jpg

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelondonp...costume?image=0

http://www.holymoly.com/celebrity-news/m...21/page-10.html

http://tv.uk.msn.com/photos/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=150532300>1=61503

Well not long now till some of us may just have to eat their words about ‘young’ Mr Matt Smith,

I’d better get the salt and pepper ready for myself…

I'm glad to see RTD move over and Stephen Moffat take over control of the show -
he wrote all the best episodes in the last 4 seasons: the "are you my mummy?" one, "blink", etc etc

I also think what the show desperately needs is for that guy who's done all the music for the past 4 years, Murray "bloody" Gold, to GO AWAY and take his overblown mawkish digital orchestral generic pap with him,
and they get some proper radiophonic workshop style wierd electro back in there where it belongs!

Agree 100%! Couldn't have put it better myself!

completely agree about the music,
too, too much of it and it is VERY annoying,
(did he also write the music for Torchwood by any chance , also VERY annoying!)

The script for Girl In The Fireplace just sucked, thats the only time I've seriously doubted Moffat's ability during the show.

I quite liked 'Girl in the Fireplace',
like most of those Moffat stories,
it had me puzzled and wondering what was going on (in a *good* way, not in a 'who wrote this half-assed crap Sylvestor McCoy 'Ghostlight' kinda way!)

I've heard that this is viewed as one of those very bad moment's in the Who saga, never seen it myself as all of the McCoy years disappeared down a black hole kinda time warp thingy for me

No, I love The Girl in the Fireplace, and Blink and that one when they're all stuck in that train thing in the middle of nowhere.

And of course, The Girl in The Fireplace also starred the rather lovely Sophia Myles...and David Tennant wooed her with his sonic screwdriver..

who would have guessed that it could be so multifunctional...

apart from the creepy looking alien clockwork robot technology idea, I still stand by what I said about that episode, but 100% agree about the other stories.
Out of the blue I still randomly send a text to a big Who friend of mine saying only:

"are you my mummy?"

how sad am I

it drives him mad, and one day the joke's going to wear very thin!

Ha! amazing how that's become a classic!
I like it when he repeats it during the Sontaran invasion episode (sorry I'm cr*p with titles).

McCoy's seasons had a script editor called Andrew Cartmel, who had some quite nice general ideas for making the show 'darker' and more mysterious, but his actual editing was all over the place: all the scripts he delivered to directors were far too long to fit into an episode, so tons of dialogue would get cut (largely the stuff which made the story make any SENSE!), leading to characters randomly running onto sets blarting out lines and them trying to pass it off as "enigmatic" or whatever.
Most of the McCoy DVDs have tons of deleted scenes put back in, making it all a bit more explicable to watch now!

in the hands of the right Director that sort of thing could be good in some dramas

The Waters Of Mars - I enjoyed it, a huge step up from all of the previous one-off episodes since the series ended, I mean to say, that last one with Zoe/Lara Croft from Eastenders, god love her! (and to think that she was Bionic once upon a time ) it just fizzed out. Anyhow, we seem to have some drama back into the show, and I liked the creepy focus on 'water' and the whole mythology that association brings to a Mars plot. Hope they do bring back the Ice Warriors, (I assume that's what the humans were partially morphing into in the story).

Over Christmas I recorded the last David Tennant as Dr Who story: The End Of Time, and finally got around to watching it last night, think I was unconsciously putting this off, when its done, its done, and its all over for what was for many of us oldies a golden period in our ‘once upon a time childhood show’. John Simm stole the story hands down, and the crazy sub plot about every human in the planet being transformed into the master (with shades of the Aphex Twin video Window Licker) was pulled off with the perfect balance of humour and absurdity as Simm really is the perfect likeable villain.

It wasn’t as much of a weepie ending with Tennant as I’d expected, thoughtful that they gave him the opportunity to say goodbye by way of doing something good and timely (excuse the pun) for all of those people he’d known and cared for. Without pulling on our heart-strings too tightly they quickly and smoothly eased us into the introduction of Matt Smith, and by destroying the Tardis interior they’ve opened the way up for a make-over in the next series, so its not just a new face, but maybe even a different take on the show is on the way. I’d be very surprised if any of the friends and associates of Tennant’s Doctor ever reappear again, maybe its going to be a whole new Who universe, and brief though Matt’s moment was, I think I’m going to warm to him in the role very quickly.

I remember when Christopher *Wossname* handed over the baton to *Doodah* Tennant. I remember thinking he would be rubbish. I was wrong.
When Matt *Thingy* appeared, guess what I thought? Yup, "He'll be rubbish"...

I'm rubbish at names today.. Good job my avatar has a name underneath, or I'd have forgotten that as well..

Despite my general disagreement with the idea of a "young" Doctor, I warmed to Matt Smith straight away, with his strange face and enormous hair.

The new series trailer looks fantastic. There are a number of changes taking place behind the scenes, which I believe will all be improvements and take the spirit of the show even closer to its roots. For me, there have been too many occasions where it hasn't really felt like Doctor Who any more.

The element of change drove the original series forward for 26 years, and still it keeps it going. It's time for change again and the start of a new era, and I'm looking forward to it for one.

I agree with you Alex. Apart from the last Tennant episodes being "not very good" you get the feeling his time (timey-wimey) was up and yes even that very short trailer for the new one makes it all look very fresh and exciting again.

sounds good so far :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/mar/18/matt-smith-doctor-who-debut

Another positive review:
The Quietus

I've been avoiding (most) spoilers, but I am looking forward to Saturday

In the meantime, here is a piece of artwork I spent many an hour creating last week...

oh no! a spoiler!

damn.

Thoroughly enjoyed it - and yes, his Who is a bit 'Troughton' - but so what? He's very good. Tight script, tight pace - less waffle and a lot less'Radiohead' (not that that was Tennant's fault: great Dr. **** scripts).

the new episode was like a cross between Village Green-era Kinks and The Daemons! very vintage Dr. Who feel which I liked.

Dare I say, the new assistant, Amy, was the better character? I think the new Who has yet to form, whereas she was rounded-out by the storyline- good start though.

Even I watched it! My son started to get into the last series, but I haven't watched Doctor Who since... blimey, Peter Davidson?

I liked Matt Smith straightaway, but I found the effects a bit corny. Perhaps that's good. certainly as Garry observed, the script was tight and the acting spot on - especially the amazingly gorgeous Karen Gillan.
Now I know that's probably an innapropriate comment given the fans of the show on here, but come on - what's that 'kissogram WPC' all about, and why else did her legs have to be in every shot - even close-ups of Smith's face???

Scary how much she looks like and reminds of a brief ex- of mine, the one who haunts the corner of my eye.
The place where you don't want to look...

And he (Smith) comes from Northampton , so I guess Ihave an affinity with him (even if no longer for my birthplace).

Very effective story, banging straight into character and fast-paced. The creature/serpent thingy looked like it was made in the Blue Peter studio, which remind me of the old days an introduced a cheap B-movie quality that I liked.

Having no clue about the recent history, I came to it fresh and it seemed to work.

I'll be back - this suggests to me that televisual media is perhaps not all crap.

Though having said that, Mrs Birdsong is now watching something about 'Dorothy'...

The small screen is not for me, but for the new Doctor (and Amy Pond...) I am prepared to make an exception.

Can't watch it the SKY+ box failed recording during the first 10 minutes I'm now hoping to catch the repeat tomorrow...

Try BBC iPlayer? It's usually on there as soon as it goes off-air

When you say corny effects; yep! That and the village green was what made it feel like The Daemons and in a strange way, gave it more of a ...I dunno..."Dr. Who-ness" of old. Perhaps this was deliberate; a subtlety that went over the heads of the new generation of fans but swiftly gaining an acceptance with the older ones. Not that I give a monkeys for the psychology of what's essentially a kid show - it was all enjoyable and that's the point!

The Amy characters' kissogram history; probably the BBCs idea of what passes for 'edgy' these days, and let's face it - 99.9% of the male population aren't likely to complain! Great thighs aside, she was punchy and direct from the start, and it worked.

overall, it was if somebody had given Dr.Who to the Ghost Box label!

Brief thoughts froom me until I formulate a better review...

Personally I really enjoyed it.

Matt Smith – going to be fantastic. He’s got charisma and an ‘alien-ness’ about him. Let’s not forget that the Doctor is always a tad crazy after regenerating. Interesting face. No Tennenty pretty boy. Quite Doctor-ish.

Karen Gillan as Amy – nice. Good character, different type of companion.

New TARDIS interior – rather “rubbish”, literally, since it’s just a pile of junk. They should have done something much more different.

Then again, the home-made time machine look matched the new Doctor’s twee, old professory type look.

New theme tune – glad they changed it, but not to this. It’s lost it’s identity.

New titles – boring, no invention. Missed opportunity.

The story itself – quite good, quite original. Not the best, but a damn sight better than most RTD stories.

Coming soon trailer – looks amazing.

VERY excited about this season - with the much-needed changes in place, this could be the best season since the show's return in 2005.

Just watched it myself.

Reminded me of a Tim Burton gothic fairytale.

I agree new Doctor has to find his feet.

Amy is very easy on the eye.

Spitfires in space,dunno about that.

Dalek in WW2 camoflauge - intruiging,a Mark Gatiss penned story so I've heard,wish I'd quizzed him last July about what was coming.

Enjoyed it ayway.Signs are very good for the rest of the season.

I think it's going to be a superb season. You can really tell that many changes in production have been made, and I think it's all the better for it.

Well yesterday's episode lived up to my expectations, if some of it was a little underplayed and rather a lot crammed in to 45 minutes.

But still, it felt fresh and original, and made a change from your typical villain or alien invasion type story.

The "Smilers" were pretty creepy and wonderfully realised; it's a shame they didn't do more with them.

Excuse the long post folks, I just got typing, and well, this came out…

Two episodes into the new series now and I’m almost 99% sure that Matt Smith will continue to be good as he continues on in the role. I like his 1950’s school teacher geeky look, (like he came out of Michael J Fox’s Back To The Future film), and I love the way that his face is both fascinatingly young and old all at once, but its still early days for me to say if he will ultimately become my favourite Doctor, if so, then I hope it happens unexpectedly in much the same way as it did with my past favourite actors in the role. In the first episode there were a few fleeting moments when he reminded me of Tennant, and in the second episode it was Troughton and Pertwee who came to mind. This could either be the intentional scripting in linking him to his previous portrayals, or of course just simply Matt Smith drawing on some of the fine acting standard that has gone before him, but either way its actually quite comforting, and strangely believable to see these echo’s of reincarnation manifest themselves within the body language of whoever new has taken up the role of the Doctor.


Normally I hate it when they tamper with the theme tune and graphics of the show, but I prefer this new slightly darker sound, and the ‘DW’ logo is way less fanciful than its so often been in the past, its just sleeker now. I love the steampunk look of the Tardis interior, finally going the full hog on the console and throwing in everything including the kitchen sink, its eccentric design of the controls is something that they just had to do, but apart from this aspect of the new redesign - I’m still struggling to clearly visualise just what the rest of the interior is all about! When watching episode two I noticed that the exterior of the Tardis was also giving off a striking impression, during a scene when the Doctor was standing next to the exterior doors the blue wood grain was quite lucidly visible, (well, it was on my TV).

Amy Pond, yes she’s nice to look at, but could she become annoying, well I expected Catherine Tate to be so, fortunately she was the opposite, and with previous companions - well sadly Martha Jones was nearly forgettable, and as for the big one, Rose, well somehow the show managed to eventually nullify her for me! There’s still never been anyone totally spectacular as an assistant in the new show (yes, I know there were plenty of stinkers in the old, old show, here’s some for easy debate, Adric, Peri, Melanie, to name a few).


There's some similarities working in from the past into the new, with the runaway bride theme, and a progressive mystery in the background which started with Bad Wolf throughout previous stories - and now we have the cracks in the fabric of existence appearing in this series - so why change something if it works, and I like the idea of these linking motifs.


The Eleventh Hour had some nice plot elements, the B-Movie setting in the ‘quiet’ English Village, the kind of place where there’s a small Parish, a village green, a tearoom, a red phone box (or did I imagine that one!) I know we’ve all seen it countless times before, but it remains as a classically pastoral Doctor Who environment for any scene of alien or supernatural invasion. If the Doc’ were American then he would no doubt materialise in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet small town on a bright and blue summers day, with its white picket fences and manicured lawns, just as Jeffreys Dad unexpectedly has a stroke whilst watering the grass, and the camera pans slowly down into the ground to reveal the dark bug infested horror that lurks beneath a once peaceful everyday setting.


The Doctor almost seemed to be turning into a superhero during his speech about defending the Earth, I expected him to don a cape and fly up into the sky, but the real horror in The Eleventh Hour was the fish fingers and custard eating scene. I don’t know why anyone would be scared of all the ‘Highly Digitised And Graphic Monster’ scenes, no, it’s abnormal food combinations that are the true evil of the universe.


The Beast Below, hmm, this was a slight step back from the opening episode for me, looked good with the smiling cyborg wooden-faced observers in the boxes, and they were a great surreal ‘army’ to rank alongside some of the best throughout the history of the show, but shame they were not really the biggest thing in the story. The BBC prop department had clearly come in useful for decking out the interior of Starship UK, but overall it all turned into a cheesy plot halfway through. The situation of the city on the back of a beast made me think of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld ‘planet’, and the mystery of its function was straight out of Star Trek NG’s pilot: Encounter At Farpoint, and how cheesy was that episode, but it lead on to several series and movies for that show, so, here’s to many more continuing seasons of new and improved Dr Who to come…

I agree.

But I am wondering how the Doctor and Amy (well, especially Amy) managed to wash and re-do the hair after bathing in whale sick...?

It was a blink-and-you-miss-it episode, so perhaps I did exactly that??

It’s the sort of sci-fantasy plot thingy that could drive you mad if you notice it, which I’m sure we all did, but try not to think about it.

Too late! I have. Just what was up with the scale of the human morsels in proportion to the size of the Ginourmous space whale/starship UK? its as unbelievable as the creaky old set-pieces in the ‘70’s TV show The Land Of The Giants. A mere human must be just like a speck of space dust on the space whales tongue, surely the beast required to filter us up like tens of thousands of plankton, then again, why would it need to eat us anyway. And then there’s the issue of the morals of a society where even a child getting a question wrong at school allowed for the excuse of being selected and digested and eaten alive. Surely this is a far bigger secret for people to elect to ‘forget’ about rather than the ‘torture’ of a near mythical creature that the majority of people will never truly contemplate the existence of. Unless of course the creature represents the body of the people, and its torture is symbolic of the repression of individual freedoms, or that sort of politi-mumbo thing.

Or is this just unnecessary over-analysing, when we should really just sit in front of the telly at tea-time and take heed of what Radiobeach says in an earlier post: ” Not that I give a monkeys for the psychology of what's essentially a kid show - it was all enjoyable and that's the point!

Yeah, it’s probably best just to tuck into our Saturday meal, sip a cup of tea, and imagine that the Doctors sonic screwdriver is also the galaxies smallest hairdryer complete with a microscopic personal grooming salon, and that a gun-totting, street-wise Queen Of England might one day become a reality...

Well, yesterday's episode thoroughly angered me. I'm as much of a fan of the Daleks as I am of the show, and that awful redesign got me hurling abuse at the telly no end.

For me the Mark Gatiss story Victory of the Daleks proved to be a huge disappointment.

Although Gatiss is a lifelong fan, with numerous writing connections to the show, for me, both stories of his, have been rather crap. Victory of the Daleks was perhaps THE most rushed and fast-paced story in the show's history - blink, and you missed it. This made it difficult to follow and it spent no time at all building up any kind of tension.

And not just that - the actual storyline was absolute rubbish too. The rehashed old tale of one race of Daleks beating another, all wrapped around a corny plot to get to the Doctor via implanting an android professor, claiming to have invented the Daleks, in Winston Churchill's war cabinet. I'm sorry, it just did not work. The Daleks deserve a genuinely original story - and not one that's necessarily earth-bound either. There are only so many ways you can re-tell The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and they've all been done twice over!

But it gets worse. According to Steven Moffat, as just about everything else in the series has change, why not change the Daleks too? Because there's no need, that's why! The change in the Doctor, the companion and the TARDIS is all normal with a new Doctor, season and production team, but a design as genuinely classic as the Dalek? Surely people want to see Daleks which look like Daleks, not an oversized, hunchback obese Dalek. Despite some nice colour schemes and some interesting details, such as the eye-stalks, the new fat Daleks looked utterly stupid, more resembling the various mis-shapen Dalek toys that came out in the 60s, barely resembling a Dalek.

This was one step too far in my book, which has undoubtedly raised my concerns for the rest of the series. I think at times the production team are so involved in the show, and wrapped up in their exclusive little Doctor Who bubble, that they easily lose focus and forget some of the most important things that just make the show work.

I'm giving it a bit longer to see where it's at...


The Beast Below. Since I saw this episode I’ve been reminded that it’s actually the intention of the new producer to bring a ‘Fairytale’ quality to the revamped style of the show, I forgot that when I watched it, so a giant creature carrying a city on its back was if a tad childlishly presented, certainly a step in that direction.


Victory Of The Daleks.

A concise little tale to say the least, that served to get the Daleks back in the door, but I think there were some elements in the story that should have run on into a second episode, and is it just me or do stories referencing The Blitz Spirit just seem so typical of the BBC, the Eastenders kind of Blitz of course, not those ‘80’s glow boys in lipstick and shadow.

Winston and the Doc’ as chums together in the bunker, and Daleks in army kit, well the camoed-up Daleks made for a nice surreal image, and Winston’s ”Keep Buggering On” was a line worthy of the cheeky script tweaker RT Davis himself, if he had actually invented it, Mark Gatiss’s story had some things going for it, but in truth I was a bit bored by the old Winston.


It’s still early days yet I think to tell just where Matt Smith’s evolving characterisation of the Doc’ is going to ultimately fix itself, some echoes of Troughton and Pertwee were coming through again, and I notice that he’s becoming quite a touchy feely person, resting his hands momentarily on people, did any other Doctor do much of that in the past? Mind you, he’s ruining the mystique of the Doc’ is our Matt Smith, speaking of being hands on, he’s been getting Paparazzied at the Coachella music festival, hand in hand with his Daisy, who the celeb’ mag’s like to tell us is - ‘an underwear model’


So, once again the Daleks were down to numbers of almost single figures, and once again they were resurrected, and yet again Amy Pond remarkably came up with a timely answer to a problem while all others were in a tizzy about finding a solution. At the end of the episode a likeable old Cyborg scientist with transplanted memories ran off to find his sweetheart, but before this he helped bring about a brief homage to Star Wars with some Spitfires in space. This nicely linked us back to George Lucas’s use of the WWII air fighter footage that he inserted into the production of his film, using it to fill in the gaps prior to the completion of the special effects.

Aboard a spaceship with a fittingly utilitarian metal room (and a curiously noticeably low ceiling), the Daleks were reborn adorned in the latest Star Trek movie styling after the Doc’ had rather stupidly called their bluff. The redesigned Daleks must have been gorging themselves on their power-hungry ambitions during the DNA reconstruction, as they now sport chunky midriffs. I’ve never been completely satisfied with the design of any of the Daleks since the show returned, though I did think that the all Black one was a good look, but I actually like the funky colours of this new team, they remind me of those dinky looking Swatch designed ‘smart’ cars, in lovely painted choices of Lemon, Lime, Raspberry, Tangerine, and NASA White.


It seems to have been a week of me hearing slogan’s with the word 'Britain' inserted somewhere, ‘ Victory For Britain’, ‘Broken Britain’, or, ‘Britain Is Great’, what, with the Doc’s Winston, Politicians on TV, and even Eddie Izzard popping up on a party political broadcast, everybody loves Britain, so why on earth do the Daleks keep coming back here using our little island as a springboard for world destruction, you’d think the grumpy little squids would just learn to be happy inside their armoured shells now that they’ve all got cheery colourful exteriors

I suspect Alex that the redesign of the Daleks is probably all about coffers into the Beebs funds, as you know sales from the merchandise of the show are huge, and the Daleks are most likely the Star Wars Toys cash cow equivalent, if you look at the many versions and scale sizes of Daleks that have already been produced over recent years, then issuing a new style as a toy or Model is going to hit the money mark straight away.


The Time Of Angels/ Flesh And Stone

So, what’s the deal with River Song? And what’s the exact nature of her ‘close relationship to the Doctor’, at first I thought she might be revealed now as his human mother, she’s very keen on keeping tabs on his actions. But then we get the info that she’s responsible for the death of ‘a very important man’, which is just too lazily obvious in its suggestion that she kill’s the Doc’, but if so then maybe its a plot device in the waiting for use when Matt Smith ultimately ends his role as the character? It’s got to be more than that surely, does she kill the Doc’s father, and more stories about the Doc’s origins are in waiting for us. It would have been imaginative though if they’d done more than just drop it into the script as something said by the characters, and made for a plot element you’d want to hang on for an answer to if we’d seen an ambiguous flashback or flash-forward of River Song’s actions.


The Time Of Angels had a great visual setting with its Maze of the Dead, and the plot really turned up the creepy Quatermass And The Pit factor in the scene’s of Amy trapped inside the dropship and her impending danger from the projection of an Angel, when capturing its image is revealed as being as deadly as its actual physical presence. I noticed that once again, as in every episode, Amy has a clarity of vision in these alien predicament’s that you wouldn’t quite expect from your average earth-bound person, and the Doc’ has also started to realise that there’s more to her than meets the eye. The 21 year old flame-haired Amy and her typically upfront behaviour finally brought her to attempt to seduce the old Doc’ in the second part of the story, and she was having none of his protestations about being 900 years old, it’s the sort of situation the old rascal Ronnie Wood would love to find himself in.


Flesh And Stone was the best episode of the season so far for me, certainly the most mysterious with its energy trees within the spaceship, what a surreal location, which I thought had quite a fairytale moment with Amy making her way without vision through a forest filled with the Angels, (made me think briefly of a scene from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village - the forest setting and the blind girl who must make her way through the woods inhabited by ‘the creature’). The bright light from somewhere behind the trees that spelled the end of existence for anyone who approached made for a nice ominous moment as one by one the soldiers failed to return, and the story-line for both episodes firmly placed Amy right in the thick of the scarefest. Its these moments that from an adults point of view confound me, yes on the one hand Doctor Who is very much a family if not a children’s show that appeals to the child in us adults, but come on, how many kids watching are traumatised by watching statues that move when your back is turned, and have frightening shark-like teeth and claw hands when they are just about to get you!


I think Matt Smith is beginning to come through a lot more distinctively as his own portrayal of the Doc’, watching him I really felt that he’s had a hard act to follow after Tennant, and if it were not for that then I’d probably have been cheering for Matt a lot sooner. In the scenes where he was talking to ‘dead Bob’ and making a joking reference to comfy chairs and such other things he was fun to watch and I felt I was seeing new aspect’s of the Doc’.


The Weeping Angels are fantastic adversaries, so classically part of the Who world, you can just imagine Pertwee or Troughton having encountered them in the past.
There’s something about their physical nature and inevitable encounter with you that reminds me of a scary ‘70’s children’s TV show - Escape Into Night - which I saw back in the day, (also made into a weaker film in the late ‘80’s called Paperhouse with more fantasy and less horror). The original black and white TV version really creeped me out as a child, does anyone else remember those two kids being trapped in a house as living rocks appeared outside in the grounds and menaced them, slowly advancing on the house throughout the story...

Given that I'm a lifelong fan of the show with my own Who website and blog page, I'm surprised I haven't contributed more to this thread!

While I enjoyed this two-parter, it left me feeling rather neutral. Did we really need the weeping angels back? For me they just weren't as effective second time around, which is a shame given that they are probably one of the scariest enemies the show has produced.

Matt Smith is going from strength to strength (which is funny considering this was the first story he shot).

I had River Song down as being a regenerated Rani. Obviously, we didn't find out. I suspect she'll be back...

I am not liking this development

Birdsong was audible

Who's been sleeping in The Garden...?

and without the use of elaborate alien technology, and with my one-finger typing technique, I've just teleported your quote over from one time-related-thread and into another one


Viewed the latest two episodes last night, (I've got into the habit recently of recording shows and watching them as a double-bill). Of the two episodes: The Vampires Of Venice, and Amy's Choice, the former was a typical Who-ish aliens in history romp, and the latter was I think one of the best so far this series...

I'm actually starting to feel disillusioned with the new series. For me, it has 'lost' something.

On Saturday, I suddenly realised that I wouldn't be too bothered if I missed it. For the first time in over 25 years of viewing and loving the show!

Somehow, part of the enjoyment is watching it 'live' at the time of transmission.I suppose nowadays, knowing we have the iPlayer and BBC Three repeat, it's not the end of the world if I happen to miss it. But it was the fact that a certain feeling was gone that alarmed me.

And as such a dedicated and passionate fan, this is a very sorry thing to be saying.

I didn't dislike Saturday's episode, although it did remind me of the "Nannageddon" episode of The Mighty Boosh!!

Over the last 2 days I've spoken to 3 friends who watch the show. One hates it completely; can't stand Matt Smith. The other said he hasn't been as bothered about it and it isn't as good as it was, and the third echoes my own thoughts and feelings, in that the only good thing about the current series (and contrary to his initial misgivings), is Matt Smith.

Matt Smith IS the best thing about the show (luckily!). He is a superb Doctor. He manages to bring together aspects of previous Doctors, such as Tennant, Troughton and Davison yet make it his own. It's amazing how somebody of Matt's age can be both so old and so young at the same time!

I like Karen Gillan but somehow, Amy just isn't doing it for me. But the big disappointment I'm afraid, is Steven Moffat. And it is with huge irony I say this, as when I think about many of my favourite episodes from 2005 onwards - they're his. Some of the most original stories - again, the Moff. A self-confessed lifelong fan too - which in my book made him the perfect and ideal person to take over from RTD, who for me started off good, but slowly let things fall apart.

Now, The Eleventh Hour was brilliant. That really got the new season off to a good start, and The Beast Below, while a little odd, still worked; feeling new and original. But it's been a rapid downhill journey since then, with the utterly dreadful Gatiss travesty and horrendous new Dalek design. That as for me, the first warning sign.

I guess I'm disappointed in the decisions and choices the production team have made. For me it's stopped 'feeling' like Doctor Who, and that's what concerns me.

And I never thought I'd say that, but I am. Looking back, Series 1 with Christopher Eccleston was, for me personally (aside from the farting Slitheen), the best season of the revived show and most true to the spirit of the original show. I thought that was just how modern Doctor Who needed to be. Then he went and left...

So back to the present; and we're about half way through the season. I really hope that soon something is going to come along and change my state of mind.

I have to agree with you Alex.

Its not doing it for me either.

I used to complain about Russell T Davies but I hate to say that it was better when he was running it.

Moffat has been a huge disapointment.

I did really enjoy Saturdays though.

Must be one of the Boosh episodes I've note seen:)

I thought RTD did the first 2 seasons very well, but then it went downhill in the third and fourth, with too many camp moments and overblown, OTT stories, particularly the finalés.

They also used the Daleks too much. The first "Dalek" story was utterly fantastic and the "Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways" was brilliant too. But all the subsequent ones were all poor stories; more like the sort of playground games you'd play as a kid. Consequently the Dalek menace has been diminished and there's no thrill, excitement or surprise because of their over-use, not to mention the fact that they need an original story.

And the hunchback, Teletubbie re-design of the new series has just killed them flat. I'm astounded that both the Terry Nation estate and Mr Moffat agreed to this. You just don't tamper with such a classic design.

Spot on with both points there Alex.

Regarding the Rani, my memory of the original is a bit vague, think it coincided with a time when I’d either lost interest in the show or just left it behind as I got older, but I think you are correct, the River Song role would make complete sense in being that character.

What’s the most redeeming factor about the new series and undoubtedly the glue that’s presently holding it all together? Why yes, it’s that tall wonky-legged and somewhat foppish Mr Smith! For me too he is the whole kit and caboodle, the bee’s knees, the cat’s whisker’s, the big banana in the ‘buy two, get one free’ deal at Sainsbury’s, and besides, he’s actually fun!

In the climax of The Vampires Of Venice was that an unintentional homage to another geeky adventurer, silent movie star Harold Lloyd who dangled high up in the air clinging to a clock hand, as Matt’s doc’ climbed up the Venetian tower, popped open that globe, and hastily found the off-switch like a Mr Bond fumbling with Goldfinger’s dastardly bomb, and just in the nick of time. Yeah, such a time-honoured resolution, phew, I’m just surprised we didn’t see a countdown. Matt’s scenes, such as, his breaking into the school and confronting the ravishing, or ravenous ‘students’ while looking in the mirror, and his later flirtatious confrontation with Calvierri show what a charmingly cheeky chap he is, and with his likeable characterisation and developing body language in the role, all of which made up for having an otherwise predictable plot scenario.


Recording and watching a double-bill of TV serial shows has become a bit of a practical necessity for me, rather than by design, and it definitely adds to the entertainment value, but having a double dose can sometimes make up for what might in reality be two shows of lesser quality, generously giving them the appearance of one stronger episode in my memory. The Vampires Of Venice probably falls into that category, with it’s lobster-tailed creatures fitting nicely into slightly creepy Venetian attire as if it were a story borne from out of the sumptuous BBC costume department. It really was just another routine day in the world of production-line Who stories, and this was the type that only goes one of two particular ways with the established format, either as a Supernatural Infiltration, or, as an Alien Invasion.

Though of course these stories are always a bit of both and we no longer expect to be surprised beyond that, but is this nonchalance towards the familiarity of the stories a good or a bad thing for the regular audience, now that we’re way beyond the exhaustibility of story possibilities and tumbling down so many routes with the new post-modern Who, the parody route, the ‘so self-aware we’re hip route’. Can they go any further now without just ending the show and having it go off into indefinite hibernation again? Or until such time as another re-awakening will allow us to view it as having been ‘re-invented’, when in fact all we will actually be doing 20 years from now is viewing the same-old-same-old, but in a newer age.


It’s still a good romp, and it’s still the best home-produced fantasy light entertainment but presently I think the crux of the matter is that Moffat is basically just ‘a good TV producer’ and that’s all, is he bringing enough originality on board, has he really re-defined the show?

Apart from squashing a few Daleks out of shape, and sticking some camouflage and kit bags on the old ones (much as the schoolboy me loved that image), I’m not really seeing it. He states he wants a fairytale, but again, the show hasn’t gone all Dark Crystal on us, I’m still waiting to see if he has a real artists hand, or is someone with a fantastique vision to bring to a prime-time show that really has to just fit itself into a scheduled tea-time slot.

How risky will the show be allowed to be, we know RT Davies was a genuine innovator with a history of individual and successful TV work, and thus his deeply personal and unshakably strong vision of just who his ‘Who’ is was given free reign to be a new and defining template, so, it’s success is established in a particular manner, and they wouldn’t want it derailed by anything too challenging, or worse still, too arty rearing it’s bare arsed head. Now none of that matters as long as the show remains enjoyable, thanks to Matt I am enjoying it, and I think Amy is okay, her boyfriend though is completely underplayed, he really should be more comically annoying or irritating in some dumb way, which I think would contribute for more friction between the characters.


To be honest, I was momentarily un-convinced at the arrival of the first series, but I’ve always liked Christopher Eccleston, and immediately loved his (Davies’s) radical portrayal of the Doc, and the high production values to the show were like Christmas had finally arrived in Who-dom, with the BBC Grinch at long last being a genuine good fairy towards the spirit of the series.

But I hated some of the Star Wars Cantina aliens style of CGI-ism that was now a part and parcel of it’s visuals, and the non-stop annoying music in the background which unnecessarily ‘heightened’ every scene, and I grudgingly put-up with the ever increasing touches of Australian tea-time soap-opera bordering on musical theatre hysterics, until I (perhaps like many other older fans) eventually donned my tux and top-hat, pulled on the white gloves and tap-shoes, spun a silver-topped cane in the air and joined in with the chorus line. Yes, I really wanted hard Sci-Fi merged with Surreality, A 2001 Space Odyssey meets David Lynch and crash-lands in some mythical part of our dark and miserable country, but we got Russell instead, who took it so far down his street and enthusiastically convinced us that his was a great place to be after all, and now he’s up and gone and left us there with a dithering feeling about whether it’s possible to continue to stay true to that place, like Uncle Walt Disney has died and the corporation is struggling to continue, and will it ultimately fail miserably unless we get a new flamboyant Uncle Sparkle at the helm again...


Perhaps we could do a lot worse than Steven Moffat. Remember that dark moment in the 90’s when Steven Spielberg had drawn up his evil plans to resurrect the show stateside? His middle-aged mogul ideas of ‘hipness’ still haunt my imagination - a tardis console with a pair of holographic lips on the time rotor, and a baseball hat wearing streetwise companion who teaches the lips to rap.

Now that’s what I call a lucky escape,
or can we be sure? especially if you consider the connection that exists today between the two Stevens…

I'd like to see the show go darker and more mysterious; perhaps take itself a little more seriously. Maybe more like Torchwood but without the sex, gore and overtly homosexual bits.

I am glad the show came back how it did - for that I guess I'm eternally grateful. And of course I'd rather have it back as it is than if it had never been resurrected or done by Spielberg!

I do remember in the late 90s, Alan Yentob wanted to get his hands on it, and he had some exciting plans, as did a bloke by the name of Dan Freedman, whom I saw discussing his plans for it at a convention. Obviously neither saw the light of day.

I think since 26 March 2005 the show's spent so long in not taking itself too seriously it would definitely have to go into hiatus to return with a changed attitude, but I agree, it's all too lightweight.

Are you sure that Torchwood is serious? weren't the original cast meant to be played by Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, and Sid James as Capt Jack Hardon.



And I'd love to know what Alan Yentob's vision was!

I remember there was an article in SFX or some sci-fi magazine with a short interview and some 'new' 3D renderings of slightly revamped Daleks trudling about.

I wonder if I still have it. It excited me at the time!

”Squeaky bum time"

”Double squeaky bum time"

what the..? did the Doc’ really say those cheesy lines during the second episode of the ‘it started out ever so promising but ended up ever so disappointing’ recent two-part story about the reptilian Silurians.

But first, lets travel back in time to three weeks ago and Amy’s Choice, which was a story that couldn’t be awarded any points for originality, as the whole ‘is this real, or is that real instead’, no wait, it’s only a fiction of someone’s psyche, has as a plot been done to death, (particularly in Star Trek where it usually involves a Holodeck or Transporter malfunction).

However, I was happy to go back to the theme of strange goings on in sleepy village’s where nothing ever happens, and the theme of advancing oldies as a threat, and it’s similarity to the Mighty Boosh’s ‘Nanageddon’ episode actually went straight over my head though. Whenever I see a plot involving slow-moving people ambling about in a kind of daze amidst a setting of everyday normality I usually think about Simon Pegg’s Shaun Of The Dead film, well, it’s either that or it’s August in the year, and nearby to me in Edinburgh the Festival Fringe has brought the usual annual influx of performing zombies to town.

Amy’s Choice didn’t advance the bigger picture by much, but it brought a few more comedy moments with Matt, where we learned about his new Doc’s attitude to his companions while his dilemma was projected through a seemingly Freudian dreamscape. It’s only a light-hearted TV show, but couldn’t the viewer have been given a bit more deeper delving into the dream thing, or were we just left to amuse ourselves by reading more into it than the scriptwriters probably never bothered to intend in the first place.

When the psychic pollen was revealed as the catalyst to the events, and the Doctor as the instigator, was Amy’s pregnancy meant as a symbol of her hidden potential and the forces of change which she is no doubt scheduled to bring about in a future story. And Rory’s naff ponytail, did this mean that the Doc’ rather cynically views him as a donkey, or just an eager to please little puppy dog following Amy around. The Doc’s slightly seedy ‘pier-end entertainer’ alter-ego in the form of the Dream Lord was interesting, but his gloating over the Doc’s preference for surrounding himself with the young over the old, and casting his companions aside could have been explored in more depth.


The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood

I haven’t seen the Silurians since Pertwee encountered them in the dark back in the 70’s, so I was surprised when it became obvious that they were the ones journeying up to towards us from below the ground. This was a good episode up to a point, with mysterious holes in the ground and the enclosing bubble of darkness above ground creating an intense aspect to the events, and I was even hoping that Meera Syal was going to eventually join the Doc’ as a travelling companion as she seemed to be quite a potentially good character, but when the female Silurian was captured and had her mask removed I felt something of an anti-climax. I liked the idea of the Silurians having two faces, a scary fake warrior mask, and a real face below, but they were just too human looking under the mask. The subsequent story unfolding in the second episode involving the scientist, and the more enlightened Silurian, both being at odds with the military Silurian, just reminded me of a similar plot from Star Trek Voyager about space-going reptilians, who were also the former advanced species on earth before we upstart apes came along. And why was the scientist portrayed like an apparent sadist, initially eager to cut us open, and then latterly he became a kind of good guy in the proceedings?

The weakest part though was the inane scenes of fluffy 'debate' that took place between the chief Silurian and Nasreen, together with a stupidly bored Amy in an attempt to find common ground. This really was poor writing, and none of this lameness was helped as throughout the episode the Doc’s incessant harping on about how much better we can all be as humans, etc, was really grating. The worst episode so far, saved only at the end in the final moments by the somewhat disturbing erasure from existence of poor Rory.

Eccleston speaks out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10312426.stm

Interesting. "The culture of the programme" - it's good he has been able to voice his real reasons for leaving. He may have had a few 'wooden' moments, but on the whole, I thought he was a brilliant Doctor - perfect for a modern interpretation.

The current series is frustrating me. It's been getting less Who-like every week.

The episode with Van Gogh was interesting though a real let down for Richard Curtis. But they could have done so much more with it.

Why did the (rubbish looking and invisible, presumably to save money on CGI) monster have to even be in it. Can't they write an episode with genuine mystery and suspense, without aliens having invaded, or gone back in time?!

I'm tired of Earthbound stories.

And I'm not even going to mention the pointless and confusing mess of an episode with James bloody Corden in.

Totally lost direction

You just did! :p

Oddly enough, I felt that episode wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, although the football thing was cringingly bad

Mx

That was probably just so Matt Smith could show off, as I think he was training to be a pro footballer before he injured his back and got into acting.

Alex, sadly I know deep down that I’m beginning to agree.

In Vincent And The Doctor I found myself losing interest about a quarter of the way through. We had Tony Curran playing a reasonable if predictably clichéd Van Gogh, and a plot element that drew on his alleged Synesthesia but never took full advantage of the idea. We also had Bill Nighy as an Art expert, and Amy meanwhile just started to get annoying, it was all a tad boring. The bird creature was like a disfigured Muppet that had escaped from Jim Henson’s show, and Matt’s cumbersome and comical ’steampunk mirror machine’ was the only sci-fi highlight in the story. The idea of taking Vincent into the future to see the exhibition of his work was almost like an after-thought, it would have had its emotional content raised so much more higher if we’d not had to previously sit through a naff story about a giant invisible chicken running amok in the cornfields.


The Lodger didn’t feature David Bowieee, shame, or indeed anything remotely with his visual uniqueness masquerading as the villainous force behind the mysterious goings-on in the room at the top of the stairs. We had no physical adversary for the Doc to pit his wits against, what we had instead was a mild domestic comedy about flatmates, with the over-rated, and over-exposed James Corden being typecast as a fat bloke unnoticed by the woman he loved. Corden’s part could have been played by any other actor, and I suspect he was cast in this episode solely to time neatly with the World Cup, with his fantastic vocal contribution to the National Footie Anthem presently in the charts.

Again this was an episode that relied on Matt’s charms, and much more than ever before in this one, as without his witty performance there really was no story here. Because of Matt I enjoyed this episode much more than the Vincent one. I liked the Heath Robinson Scanning Device that the Doc built in his bedroom, in fact, I liked it so much that I’m going to make one of my own, and I’ve already started collecting junk to build it


In essence it’s a children’s show, but I think it’s losing the edge it needs to have to allow us adults to continue in sharing in the wonder of childhood imagination -

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/ar...f-british-tv.do

And one day there will be a ‘Doctor Who On Ice’, coming to a skating rink near you soon -

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23834722-doctor-who-to-go-on-uk-tour.do

http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/news/tune-lord-the-doctor-plays-glastonbury-with-orbital

Dr Who feat. Orbital at Glastonbury

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF_R5UJGt-g&feature=player_embedded

Fantastic!

Orbital's safe old version finally got the spark it needed, and is it just my imagination or does Matt look like a young Mr Foxx on keyboards amidst the dusty smoke and laser lights?

That... was... awesome!
Thanks for posting it!

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

I really enjoyed this last two-part story, much to my surprise, as I was prepared to be disappointed by the show’s finale, but its actually left me suffering from withdrawal symptoms due to the absence of any new episodes to come. Its also given me a bit of a change of heart regarding the direction of the show, and despite five uninspiring episodes for me that I’d very happily forget about, there’s been a few that I really liked, some of which were written by producer Steven Moffat.

In The Pandorica Opens I thought that Amy was going to be revealed as the ‘greatest threat ever to the universe’, well, she is slightly irritating and perhaps that’s a sign of an even greater nuisance lurking below the surface. The big threat was of course the Doctor, at least he is in the minds of his enemies, which makes sense, but Moffat’s decision to bring together so many disparate adversary’s left me feeling unconvinced of an alliance between any of these warmongering alien species, especially as they’re often hell-bent on being the ‘sole supreme beings’ in the galaxy.

It was a good story with a nice build-up to its cliff-hanger ending, and the fantasy of Amy’s childhood mind made a great plot about the trapping of the Doctor. There was a clever reintroduction of Rory as an alien counterfeit with a human personality, which led to his 2000 year vigil of guarding Amy’s incarcerated body, an idea which seemed to tap into the fairytale sensibility that Moffat wanted, and I think this underlying design is something he succeeded with as we got towards the end of the series.

The Big Bang episode was a great romp, with some enjoyable nonsense and plenty of comedy from Matt, which has been the saving grace so often in this series. I loved the way they worked in the silly excuse of having him hold a mop and wear a Fezz on his head, but surely there’s a major plot hole in his time jumping escape from the Pandorica Box? Lets see, he’s trapped in the box at the end of the first-part, but in the second part he appears from the future by using a hand-held time device, and gives his sonic screw-driver to Rory with instructions to open the box and let him out, and then he disappears back to the future. Rory opens the box, lets the Doc out, (and now places Amy’s dead body inside where she will be kept in a life-saving stasis). The newly released Doctor now discovers a hand-held time device lying on the ground, (the same device that his future self has just used to travel backwards and forwards through time with), and he now uses the device to jump forward to the future.

But wait a minute, this doesn’t make any sense, so his future self came back and freed him, but how did he ever get to have a future self that was free to do that in the first instance? He was trapped in a box remember, with no way out. I assume we are meant to either suspend our disbelief and accept this kind of artistic license, or perhaps its a time travelling conundrum that I’m just not grasping, but either way it was a fun episode, and its slightly stupid but charming manner won me over.

At the end of this series everyone appeared to be saying their goodbyes, time and events have all been properly restored, Rory is no longer erased from existence but is back in flesh and blood, so he and Amy finally get married, and the Doctor dances to a cheesy song at their wedding reception. Later as the Doc heads off for the Tardis Amy and Rory come racing after him to say goodbye, their story is over, Amy was integral to the big plot and seems now to have concluded her story, and at this point I was more than happy to let her go, it really felt like time to move on. But after shouting goodbye she grabbed Rory and pushed her way into the Tardis, and I groaned, why, oh why do we still need them as his companions?
The Doc really should have some kind of eject button to get rid of passengers who overstay their welcome.


I think the template of the fairytale theme for the programme’s scripts still needs longer to mature, but I particularly got the sense of it’s shape in the concluding story and the way in which it linked back to the introductory episode. So many other shows or films can also be broken down and made to read like a fairytale, so will consciously taking Dr Who in this direction make it any more unique, or will it just become more and more contentious with each new episode. You can easily analyse certain episodes into fairytale terms, so is anything new actually going on, or is it just that all invented stories of fantasy are fairytales at heart.

In the first story about Amy Pond she is mostly a solitary figure inside her large house, which has a mysterious room harbouring an unseen presence, and this remains there as she grows up daydreaming about her fantasy friend the raggedy Doctor. It’s a similar story to the tale of the princess locked in a tower who waits a long time to be rescued, after many years a prince from a far away place comes along, and he enables her to escape from whatever mysterious power has kept her there till that day. In the unassuming character of Craig Owens, played by James Corden in The Lodger, he has an unrequited love for Sophie, a woman he secretly worships, but she is someone who can only see him as a friend, and she continually fails to notice his real feelings for her. At the climax of the story the truth of Craig’s love finally comes out, which leads Sophie to kiss him, and this in turn brings about a transformation around them that causes the perception filter of an alien ship to stop working, and the fake surroundings around them disappear. Craig and Sophie’s relationship is in essence the tale of the frog and the princess.

The episode about the Queen and her Kingdom living unwittingly on the back of a whale are immediately recognisable as a fairytale, one which for me makes for a very Terry Pratchett kind of fantasy, and I wonder what literature and film sources might have appealed to producer Moffat as suitable fuel for his vision of this family show masquerading as a children’s show, one which in reality has a deep-rooted grasp over its older audience, and could it all just get messy. We might end up with Harry Potter, or even The Never Ending Story as an inspiration, which with it’s cute theme song could provoke an excitably ambitious person working at the BBC to persuade the producer to get an ‘80’s Limahl clone to join the Doc as a companion, and then the show would really be in serious trouble, and it’s only a short road from fairytale to panto, as many a TV soap-opera actor will tell you.

From today's soaraway Sun:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sho...-Hollywood.html

or a short road to Hollywood...


The shows sunk now :rolleyes:

Matt has been the sole reason I've watched and defended (half) of this series

Cheer up ..there's still another series to go ... then WHO knows!

totally Geeksville .. but fun!


Every Doctor Who villain since 1963

nice chart,

purely for reasons of graphic style rather than for anything geek, you understand

yeah that's what i thought .. !

[img]http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/103187250/8876116[/img]

Blurb from the Beeb:

There will be a double dose of Doctor Who for the timelord's fans next year.

Two separate series of his adventures will be shown with the show's producer Steven Moffat promising an "earth-shattering" cliffhanger half way through.

Seven episodes will be shown in Easter followed by six episodes in Autumn.

Mr Moffat said the doctor, played by Matt Smith, and his sidekick Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan, will face a "game-changing" moment in the new series.

He said: "An episode of Dr Who that's not scary is failing the children of this nation."

Great, in these difficult economic times this must be the new form of tightening our belts, him lets see, why not cut up one standard series into two halves and pretend to our audience that we are getting two series for our money, oh yeah, that's a fantastic and novel idea mr producer :rolleyes:


So, based on the quality of the previous series will the six easter episodes be rubbish, or will it be the six autumn ones

And here's the quote from Moffat that should have been there:
"An episode of Dr Who that's just plain naff and is not cleverly entertaining is failing the adults of this nation."


'Mr Moffat, we are not amused', as Queen Vic once said...

What's he doing?! Moffat has clearly lost the plot as well as the ideology behind the series. At this rate I won't be tuning back in - it might as well be a different show.

This 'split' is obviously due to the fact that viewing figures significantly dropped during June/July. Why not move the whole series to the Autumn? That's it's traditional slot.

Speaking of Doctor Who, I've been on a trip down memory lane recently, and written up a 19-page "memoir" of growing up with the show in the 80s, 90s and beyond.

It's quite a personal thing and talks about the effect the show had on me as a kid, collecting merchandise and things such as visiting exhibitions and conventions etc, rather than a critique of the show itself, although my opinion is, in places, clearly stated! And it's fully illustrated with my own photos!

So if anybody fancy a read, drop me a PM with your email address and I'll send it on

Marvelous!!!!

recent musings of Mr Matt Smith:

http://tv.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=154773487

The curse of Doctor Who continues?

I wonder how long its going to be before media release's about David Tennant stop referring to him as ex-Doctor Who star...

http://tv.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=154886582

A good few decades, if at all!

I think you're right Alex.

Mr Foxx is still ex-Ultravox frontman 32 years later...