Doctor Who

Web of Fear · Doctor Who

Ok, I've found a reason to start a Doctor Who thread. Hurrah for me! Cool

Check this out quick before the BBC pulls it from You Tube. It's a couple of minutes from the forthcoming Christmas episode "The Runaway Bride". The Doctor is in......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS6wirBwRxs

Guest

Well I have to say - my 1st thought is what irratating music!!! I hope thats not the final score they use!!!

Other than that - loved the London cab accelerating away from the Tardis!!!

My kids will love it!

Who ever leaked that is so fired!!!

Web of Fear

Web of Fear

You can now watch the rest of that episode at 7 on Christmas Day.

The BBC's website has an advent calender. Check it out:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/

Guest

Web of Fear

Guest

Not really - its Dr Who.

And despite recent acceptence, as a fan base, "Hoovers" still have to overcome 40yrs plus of out and out geekdom!!!

If you had clicked on that calander and it had been, say, Star Trek, what would your thoughts have been then?

"Oh my God how geeky!" probably!!!

Web of Fear

So you admit to clicking the link and having a look then... as well as watching the YouTube clip above... and being the most prolific poster round here too.

Seems, pretty geeky to me...

Anyway, I'm not going to get into name calling thank you very much. Very Happy

Guest

Hey wasn't calling you a geek.

And I said it was just as cool as it was geeky - so I wasn't trying to have a go.

And if you want to get technical as a mod its my job to read every post and click every link to make sure they are sutible for the site!

And as for the posts - when have you ever known me to keep my mouth shut about anything?!!!!

All i was saying is that durring the Dr Who "dark years" the most out and out, geeky 40yr olds living with their Mum fans where the Dr Who fans.

Star Trek fans were bad Dr Who were worst... mostly!

Obviously there are exceptions to the rule. ignoring yourself for a min, there is Dave Lilly in Maidstone. Over 6 ft tall, very big hair (we called him Chewie - now theres one Batmanuel forgot on his interview!) and a face full of metal peircings! ain't no one gonna call him a geek!!!! But he is the most die hard Dr Who fan I know - he has a Tardis in his Bedroom for crying out loud!!!

Its just that generally, if a middle aged man, with worse fashion sense than me (!) came in to the shop with his Mum breathing loudly through his nose and dribberling - his 1st and only question would be "What Dr Who stuff do you have!!!"

Hey Batmanuel - back me up here!!

But for the record. I have always enjoyed Dr Who - and any other Sci Fi for that matter. Its just not something I feel all that strongly about - unlike my comics, of course!

So if you want to attach the geek badge to me - do so!

I shall wear it with pride. Along side my "Fat Bas$%^d" badge!!!! Very Happy

Batmanuel

Web of Fear

Robin The Boy Wonder

Batmanuel

Boy Wonder:

Robin The Boy Wonder

Batmanuel

Boy Wonder:

Robin The Boy Wonder

Batmanuel

Thank you for clearing that up Rolling Eyes

and no it was not you who said 'They wouldn't print it if it weren't true?'
it was my father in law, probebly the single most stupid person i have ever met Twisted Evil

Robin The Boy Wonder

Batmanuel

Boy Wonder:

Web of Fear

New series is starting on Saturday. The BBC has announced the episode titles:

Smith and Jones
The Shakespeare Code
Gridlock
Daleks in Manhattan (Part One)
Evolution of the Daleks (Part Two)
The Lazarus Experiment
42
Human Nature (Part One)
The Family of Blood (Part Two)
Blink
Utopia
The Sound of Drums (Part One)
The Last of the Time Lords (Part Two)

Last story sounds ominous......

waffle

Bring back Billie!

Robin The Boy Wonder

42?!?

Doctor Who in the Marvel Universe!!! Very Happy

The Rascal King

You hear 42, and think of the MU? You are a TERRIBLE geek!
Hitchhikers! Meaning of Life! Rolling Eyes

Web of Fear

Doctor Who in the Marvel universe. Interesting.....

Civil War: I'm with the Daleks.

Robin The Boy Wonder

Terrible geek?!?

No... I'm Sir Geek The Terrible! Very Happy

The Rascal King

That you didn't immediatly think of Deep Thought when 42 is mentioned, it makes you fail.

Robin The Boy Wonder

Deep thought...?

Now I've not read or even seen Hitchhikers... but now I'm thinking Deep Throat from The X-Files...

The Rascal King

You've NOT read The Hitch Hikerers Guide To The Galaxy?
Seriously.
Get the f**k out now.
And don't come back untill you've read it.
Just go.
Tail between your legs.
Go.

Reaper

I haven't read the book but I have seen the film which is a start, though I knew the 42 reference from a friend of mine. The answer to everything is.... 42

The Rascal King

'xactly.

Robin The Boy Wonder

Reaper

Tell us something we don't know Razz

Web of Fear

"... all we know is he's called The Stig."

Presumably if the Stig test drove the TARDIS round the Top Gear track, he could finish before he started.

Web of Fear

There's now four Doctor Who threads running. Can a moderator please merge them into one.

The Rascal King

To create the ULTIMATE Dr Who thread.

Reaper

*Cowers in awe of the might Dr Who thread*

Guest

Ummm, no I cant!

Best i can do is lock the other threads and leave this one open I am afraid.

Will spend some time looking in to it though, just in case.

The Rascal King

I know for a fact that its possible. May just be that you're not man enough to do it.
You can allways get me to, if you need help, little man. Wink

Guest

Little man eh?

Tell you what - come back when you've grown some eyebrows! Very Happy

Reaper

muwh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hah a ha ha ha hah a hah ah ha

Web of Fear

"I am the Master and you will obey me. You will find a way to merge the threads."

Robin The Boy Wonder

That or I could simply close the other three... Rolling Eyes

I don't get the option to merge threads myself and, even if we did, they'd be a jumbled mess. I'll let CapO see if he can merge them first although I'm only giving him 24 hours to find out!

Robin The Boy Wonder

Is it me or did last week's episode (Smith & Jones) feel like a Doctor Who episode-by-numbers...?

Y'see, it just felt like the writers stayed very much within their comfort zone here. They introduced a new character who has complicated family issues (wonder where we've seen that before?), introduced a villain who ultimately posed very little threat, introduced a group of characters that could easily be pulled off through the use of a rubber mask and hired The Stig (does anyone believe for a minute that The Doctor could even remotely beat The Stig in a fair fight?).

David Tennant simply did what he did in every episode last year: Played serious briefly, went OTT, delivered some atypical mumbo-jumbo...

I like Doctor Who; really, I do. It's just this episode left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed - they've proven in the past that they can push the boundaries with both the character and the series. I can't help but feel they needed to do that striaght away this time, especially when introducing a new assistant.

Still, it can only get better from here! Very Happy

The Rascal King

What was the Stig doing in Dr Who?

waffle

all this Stig talk has reminded me of the 'Planet Zovirax' joke, which I thought was actually pretty good.

Web of Fear

I'd agree with the Boy Wonder. "Smith and Jones" was a solid, though not spectacular, start to season three and a good introduction to Martha and already a couple of Saxon references.

There will be some pushing the format of the show, as there's another episode in which the Doctor and Martha hardly appear, though I'm optimistic that this will be better than the similar episode last year, as this year's is written by Stephen Moffat who wrote season one's "The Empty Child" ("Are you my mummy?") and season's two "Girl in the Fireplace" (with the clockwork robots).

There's also "Human Nature" where the Doctor gives up his Time Lord hertitage. Highlight the gap if you want to know, as the info that's there is a spolier.

Web of Fear

Guest

For the record I cant see a way of merging topics.

I can delete, move (to another section) and edit them. I can put a universl ban on swear words. I can change colours. But I cant see how to merge 'em.

Will investigate further though...

Web of Fear

Fair enough. Maybe the board software just doesn't allow it. Thanks for looking.

Guest

No problem mate.

If anything changes I will let you know.

Robin The Boy Wonder

Change colours! Give us a psychedelic, mucked-up, multi-coloured, swirly background that will save us the need of buying drugs!!!

Web of Fear

Well last night's episode was another solid episode, with the number of Shakespeare quotations crammed in perhaps being a bit too many, but that's only a minor quibble.

Did strike me as a bit similar the first season's "The Unquiet Dead", in that both feature a major English literary figure and a race of aliens trying to escape, with disastrous consequences for the rest of us.

Still I liked the joke with Queen Elizabeth at the end.

waffle

yeah - good episode. convinced me more about martha jones. I like her.

thought the effects, and some of the witches' acting was a bit ropey though.

anyone else notice Super Hans from Peep Show?

Longshot

I don't normally watch doctor who, but my family forced me to sit through it. It was good so im glad i guess, i did think that there were alot of 'ohhhh who was that' actors like kev from shameless [weird casting but it worked].
I was surprised as it was nothing like the doctor who of old. what was the thing with the queen at the end all about, or is that too long and complicated a question.

Web of Fear

The joke was that the Doctor at some point in his personal future encounters Queen Elizabeth and makes an enemy of her. Of course, this being Doctor Who, this adventure took place at some point in Queen Elizabeth's past.

Any more explanation will probably start to make your head spin....

Robin The Boy Wonder

Yeah, this was a really solid episode.

I'm starting to really like Martha Jones now and I'm already starting to prefer her to Rose - perhaps because she skews slightly more mature than Rose, I guess.

Shakespeare was fun and I loved how he saw through the psychic paper and then worked out The Doctor and Martha before show's end.

And that parting shot with Queen Elizabeth I was truly excellent. They'll have to tell that one before David Tennant calls it a day.

In all, damned fine. Just like Martha Jones really...

Web of Fear

I thought that this was the best episode of the new series so far, with the Doctor's recollection of Gallifrey at the end being the highlight. The Doctor dropping down on all the cars was fun, and the death of a giant prosthetic face was strangely sad.

And the return of the Macra. Never saw that coming. Quite like to see the Ice Warriors return next......

waffle

Yeah - strangely moving episode. particularly the bit with the hymn and montage of shots of people singing along and crying.

my wife did her tell-tale, 'I'm just going to rest my head on your shoulder now, so you can't see that I'm crying like a baby' thing.

Robin The Boy Wonder

Yes, The Doctor jumping down from car to car was very neatly done and Ardal O'Hanlon's character was somehow just the right side of camp for it to work well - and with some emotion (not bad when you're made up as a talking cat).

I thought the undertones about drug abuse was very nicely done - selling emotions as drugs is something I can see happening maybe 500 years from now. Why get high when you can just enjoy 'bliss'?

I also like how the dynamic between The Doctor and Martha is evolving into far more of a partnership than the one with Rose. The Doctor's realisation that he's so easily lied to Martha and his determination to correct that at the end was very mature. I also Freema Agyeman's handling of Martha; I always felt that Billie Piper over-acted in more action-oriented scenes whereas Freema sells it far more convincingly. She's easier to emote with.

Best epsiode so far. Now, bring on the Daleks!!! Smile

Web of Fear

I also like the way the Doctor shouted "MARTHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" after she gets kidnapped.

Did anyone spot the Doctor pulling the arrow out of the TARDIS door from the end of last week's episode?

Web of Fear

This is a link to the new Radio Times, out tomorrow.

The link is a spoiler, so click at your own risk!

However, to truly avoid the cover, don't go into any newsagents until Saturday!

http://www.drwho-online.co.uk/images/magazines/rt-21-27-4-2007.jpg

Blerk! Shocked

Web of Fear

If you chose to comment on the cover, please do so in the Whatever Comics approved fashion of spoiler avoidance.

Reaper

Heh cool

Robin The Boy Wonder

Reaper

You could just take his word for it Razz

Web of Fear

You don't have to watch it again. I only spotted it on the Sunday repeat, after someone had pointed it out to me. Smile

Reaper

Actually sod it, watch it again you blind boy Razz

Web of Fear

Screencap from tomorrow's episode. So scary, even the cast have to hide behind the sofa ......

EDIT - Took image out

Reaper

Heh excellent, think i'll have to download this on sunday i'm out tomorrow night

waffle

what a terrible episode last night.

not only were the monsters your standard crappy BBC-budget fare (esp. the half-man half you-know-what at the end), but the acting took Doctor Who to new lows.

It's always bad when Brits try to be Yanks - but when you've got some blonde talking in a comedy Noo Yoik accent, then it just gets painful.

And the pig-slaves?! wtf?!

if the daleks alter the humans' minds so that they are their slaves (and surely that's all that matters) why go to the bother of giving them pig's faces? stupid shit, and just one more thing that made it the worst episode of this series so far.

imho Wink

Web of Fear

I didn't think that last night's episode was as strong as last week's, but I still thought it was a solid story. I'll wait until next week before passing final judgment.

Reminded me a bit of the classic story "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" which also has spooky goings on in a theatre and larks in the sewers.

I liked the "Why do they survive, while I lose everything" line and the Daleks in-fighting. I wonder if anything will come of the Daleks squabble next week.

I assumed that the pigs were the Daleks early hybrid experiments for "the final experiment", and the Daleks historically have used slave races before. While the final hybrid did look silly, well this is Doctor Who. Wink

While the lead showgirl was annoying, she was deliberately written and played as the cliché, "Noo Yoik Gal". Plus, there's been years of Yanks playing Brits badly, so maybe it's just restoring some cosmic balance....

Guest

It was ok.

It's Dr Who FFS - your not going to get Oscar level performances and the main target audiance is KIDS!!!!

You need bad strong fake accents for kids to pick up on these things as other wise they are too busy oohing and arring the Dr and the aliens to notice accents and the like.

Leave your brain on the sofa and enjoy!

waffle

You've gotta admit though: a human/dalek hybrid and that's the best they can come up with, a big one eyed version of Pizza-the-hut from Spaceballs?! Rubbish - not evil or fcked-up looking enough.

With the famous exceptions, Doctor Who always falls flat when it comes to inventing decent baddies.

Web of Fear

I think that it's a bit harsh to say that the show "always" falls flat when it comes to creating new monsters.

Unless the writers use existing popular races (Daleks, Cybermen, etc) or existing myths (werewolves) they're always taking a bit of a gamble coming up with something new.

I'm more interested in the quality of the story rather than the quality of the creatures, and a good story will carry along a "lame" monster.

waffle

And so I take it upon myself to wade into another war of words.... Wink

And first of all - I'll say that, okay, they don't ALWAYS, make a mess of it. But more often than not, they do. And for a show of the size and calibre of Who, it's just not good enough.

Your comment on already-established monsters is exactly what I meant. The daleks and cybermen are long-standing baddies and work perfectly well. Anything invented in recent years though, is just p!sspoor. I agree that the storyline is the most important thing, but they clearly place a lot of emphasis on the creatures they chuck into stories.

Let's take CapO's suggestion that the show is for kids first and foremost - not sure I necessarily agree (there are some weighty issues dealt with and some quite confusing plot elements and jokes that will go right over the heads of youngsters), but anyway.
If, kids are the main target, then that explains the need for monsters - creatures are more likely to hold a child's attention that a clever line that resonates with something Sylvester McCoy once said.
If we assume this to be correct, and the child-centric nature of the show means that creatures are more important than plot, then the makers are just aren't producing the goods (in my opinion).

Secondly (and I'll say again, I think that a decent plot is more important), the makers obviously put a lot of emphasis on the monsters. This is why they make a big deal out of the reveal, and turn the first view of a new creature into a money shot. If it wasn't important to them, then why go to the bother of all the theatrics when introducing the hybrid this week? Why waste money on really, really shitty looking CGI aliens, that actually looked like teletubbies (the Slitheen), when all you need to do to achieve something genuinely unsettling is chuck a gas mask onto a child.

The Idiot's Lantern episode, the absorbaloff, the spider-thing in the Christmas special, the wheelie-bins, the christmas trees, oooh - the big nasty scribbles... they were frightening weren't they? And oh-so convincing. Bollocks.

I'd rather they took the subtle, what you don't see, approach, than rape my eyes with these papier-mache abortions.

That said. Still love ya Doc!

Web of Fear

Creating new monsters is always a gamble, and more often than not something not particularly memorable is going to be the outcome.

The wheelie bins were a nod to the original series where the Autons brought a plastic chair, telephone and doll to life. That said those were done in a scary fashion (you see the bloke suffocated by the chair), while the wheelie bin was rather comedic.

The Absorbaloff was pretty poor, but to be fair it was the winning entry in a Blue Peter competition......

waffle

Web of Fear

I was going to type that it probably wasn't good idea to have a fairly heavy script involvement from a child, but the work phone rang before I could! Very Happy

Still, as long as this cheeky chappie doesn't come back, I'll be happy!

EDIT - Took image out

Guest

Hey guys, check this out

Could be interesting....

Back to argument!

Waffle

Web of Fear

Guest

Well my source is my 8 yr old daughter who saw it on Totally Dr Who.

Which makes my source a damn site more reliable than yours!! Very Happy

Web of Fear

I think any 8 year old would be a more reliable source than anything the News of the World says! Very Happy

Here's a link to the NOTW article (for what it's worth)

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_pages/showbiz/showbiz2.shtml

Reaper

Ha ! So Very true

Guest

Wow that was close!

I nearly put a headline like "Dr Who should be so lucky!", but I thought it was to cheesey.

Close shave there then. i nearly thought like a NOTW writter.

Punishment is death!!! Very Happy

waffle

Robin The Boy Wonder

Yeah, I think I agree with CapO (OMFG!!! FAINT NOW!!!).

If the monsters were Alien-level scary, then the BBC would be inundated with complaints for providing a too-scary creature at prime-time and also knowing that a large number of children would be watching. The aliens need to be scary enough for children to keep their interest but, more often than not, that isn't going to sell quite as well for we adult viewers.

Yes, the child in the gas mask was unsettling but, for a child, I daresay the visual was quite boring - they would be interested in the action at that point rather than 'Monster of the Week'.

For me, the quality of the monster isn't as important as the story (Absorbaloff the only exception - Blue Peter children should all go out now and ram raid their corner shop for fags and booze now just so that they can be more in line with today's generation please!). The Dalek/human hybrid isn't scary for me as a viewer but the story in getting me there was quite satisfying. Same applies to the accents - how often do you see a convincing accent anyway?

Again, story and character are more important to me as a viewer than the monsters, accents, continuity nods and occasional silliness. If the actors make you believe in the characters and the story's a good one, then it should already be succeeding.

Web of Fear

While the individual "child in a gas mask" might be quite boring for a child, I would have thought that the image of the zombie like groups of masked individuals, all going "Are you my mummy?" in unision would have been at least unsettling for children watching.

The child in the story also had the ability to make phones ring, radios turn on, etc, which added to the spooky atmoshere of the story.

Web of Fear

Let's not complain too much about the Dalek hybrid. In the original series it would have looked like this:

Robin The Boy Wonder

Web of Fear

This is from Outpost Gallifrey about the Kylie rumours.

Doctor Who executive producer and chief writer Russell T Davies has dismissed the rumour spread by several media sources this week that Australian pop singer and actress Kylie Minogue was to appear in the 2007 Christmas special of the show.

The rumour originally appeared in last Sunday's edition of the News of the World newspaper, as reported at the time by Outpost Gallifrey, and was subsequently picked up by several websites and other newspapers. However, speaking to the BBC's weekly in-house magazine Ariel, Davies has rubbished the suggestion.

"Don't be stupid," he told the publication. "I haven't even written the script yet, and a woman like that is booked up two years in advance."

waffle

Kylie's crap anyway.

Web of Fear

I thought that this week's episode was subject to a bit too much "monologing" and the Daleks had plently of chances to just blast the Doctor, but someone standing around talking seemed to stop that.

Dalek Sec turned into Davros, and just started whining that the other Daleks wouldn't obey him. Again, not sure why the Daleks didn't just exterminate him rather than chaining him up and dragging him about. Still, I did like the way that he had come to conclusion that the Daleks couldn't continue to exist in their current form. I also liked the way that when the two Daleks were in the sewer discussing Dalek Sec, one of them had a quick look around to make sure that no one else was there.

Handy the way that lightning struck just as the pigs were coming out of the lift .....

Still an entertaining 45 minutes.

waffle

another sh!t episode. found myself getting seriously bored. the look at next week's doesn't fill me with excitement either. sigh.

I just hope they can produce another episode of the same quality as the shakespeare one.

I'm also beginning to agree with some of my mates, who for ages have been fed up with David Tennant. It dawned on me last night that he's only got a couple of modes, and is getting a little repetitive.

Robin The Boy Wonder

The episode was fairly good but didn't pay-off that well after last week's episode. There were some nice moments (the Dalek turning his head to make sure no on else was there) but other than that, a very predictable episode with a very predictable ending. Still watchable and quite good but you do feel that the series can improve.

Perhaps the writers shouldn't rely on the Daleks so much...? Or maybe they should have had the guts to finally eliminate the Daleks once and for all. How shocking would it have been had The Doctor killed Dalek Khan (and with a name like that, you just knew he would survive)? Couldn't that PigMan have just died? Couldn't The Doctor teach New Yorkers to speak English properly?!?

Guest

Wasn't last nights episode written by.... a women?!?!?!

It would explain all the talking anyway!!! Very Happy

Web of Fear

Oh dear.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/ne...news/drwho/2007/05/02/43612.shtml

Still the episode does sound like a Doctor Who meets 24 "real time" story, so it should be interesting when it does come around.

Robin The Boy Wonder

Ah, crap!

Batmanuel

Missed the 1st few episodes, the 1st one i saw was the one where they were all trapped on the motorway,
and i can just imagine Ken Livingstone rubbing his hands together and wondering how much he could make should he introduce congestion charges Smile

Robin The Boy Wonder

Well, this one was only OK.

Very dodgy CGI with that ... ... thing and some hammy acting (I had Ann's brother-in-law tell me that Martha's brother is played by some geezer from CBeebies - guess it won't be long before I find out for myself, eh?).

The sub-plot with Saxon and that fella whispering something about The Doctor in Martha's mother's ear definitely piqued my interest but that was about it.

Final note: anyone else disturbed by that kiss scene between Thelma Barlow (Mavis from Corrie) and that geezer who's clearly a third her age?!? That was wrong; just plain wrong... although Reaper was probably turned on by it. Razz

Web of Fear

I'd agree. It was ..... OK.

The last 15 minutes seemed like filler to me. The characters run around a bit and the Doctor defeats the monster by using the machine against it. Oops, 15 minutes left, let's bring the monster back to life for more running around, before the Doctor defeats the monster (again).

I know it was "The Lazarus Experiment", but I rather liked this a more subtle reference to the rejuvenating effect of the machine, rather than a literal resurrection.

Still, the "Saxon" stuff has moved up a notch, and the fanboy reference to reversing the polarity gave me a chuckle. I hope that the second half of the series is a bit more memorable than the first half has proved to be.