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Belated DOCTOR WHO 27.10 Review Round-Up!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
The BBC hired the guy who created “Queer As Folk” to write a whole bunch of new “Doctor Who” episodes. They’re now airing every Saturday night in the United Kingdom, and the 10th aired this weekend.
Apologies to our hard-working Brit reviewers; their work is up late this week because the AICN editors were not able to post for a while this weekend, and Herc was hip-deep in some very American Memorial Day weekend activities.
“Zoe F” says:
Dr Who 1.10
The Doctor Dances
Part Two
The Doctor, Rose and Captain Swings-Both-Ways must figure out the origin of the zombified, gas mask headed oedipal mutants before the human race becomes extinct.
I loved this episode, this was up there with Dalek as the best episodes this series. Some great acting and writing along with some good cgi definately makes this worth watching again.
*** Spoilers***
The Doctor's escape from the gas-mask heads is accomplished by the simple use of the words ' GO TO YOUR ROOM!' Brilliant.
We find out that the Time Agents stole 2 years of Jack's memories and that's why he's soo pissed at them.
The Tula Ambulance actually contained the same nanogenes that Jack's ship does and when the ambulance crashed the nanogenes were released into the atmosphere and the first person they came in contact with was little Jamie who had been killed, while wearing his gas mask, a while earlier. The nanogenes assumed that this was the form all humans are meant to have and went about changing everyone they came in contact with into the same dead gas-mask headed freaks, but with the added powers of a tula warrior.
We also find out that Nancy, the central female character, was the little boy jamie's mother, hence the strange zombie meets oedipus mutants. The little scared boy was looking for his mother. When the Doctor realises this he has Nancy tell Jamie that she is his 'mummy', even though he doesnt understand (being a zombie thing and all) the nanogenes recognise the mother's DNA, realise their mistake and change Jamie back to how he was (before he died, this is a tea-time show, people). The Doctor then sends the nanogenes off to fix everybody they altered then destroy themselves.
Meanwhile, Captain Bi-Jack, having disappeared when the zombies commenced their final attack, uses his ship's tractor beam to stop the bomb that was about to land on the Dr, Zombies et al. He takes it into his ship, says bye to Rose and flies off. Unfortunately the bomb can't be diffused, so, just as he is preparing to die, the Tardis appears (with a very fetching dancing Doctor on board) and he escapes. The episode ends with the Doctor and Rose, dancing around the Tardis with Jack watching.
*** End Major Spoilers ***
Good Stuff
Well there was only good stuff in this episode.
Jacks ever changing sexual preferences. The Doctor's delight that 'Just this once, everybody lives!'. Jack ripping the piss out of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The cgi head-morphing. Everything!
Best Lines
'Who looks at a screwdriver and says 'this could be a little more sonic'?'
'He saved my life. Bloke-wise that's up there with flossing'
'My leg's grown back!' 'Well there is a war on. Is it possible you miscounted?'
'Red bicycle when you were twelve?!'
5 STARS from me
..........and one more thing. After watching this excellent piece of TV I was left wondering why Doctor Who fans have such a bad reputation for being anal nerds. Then i read the talkback posts/arguments/essays on what fucking series this is. I mean seriously who cares!!! Whatever series you want it to be!
Zoe F
“Supertoyslast” says:
What's it called?
The Doctor Dances
Who's it by?
Steven Moffat
What does the Radio Times say?
A zombie army is on the march as plague spreads through wartime London
The verdict?
Following on from last week's first part, a Tulan ambulance has been dumped in 1941 London as part of a scheme by time-travelling conman Captain Jack Harkness. But it was full of nanogenes designed for use on the battlefield. These nanogenes are designed to repair any organism that they come across. But they have never been in contact with humans before and so assume that a human is meant to be like the first example of the species that they come across - a four year old boy killed by a bomb while wearing a gas mask. And so these nanogenes become airborne and begin to infect everyone they come into contact with - turning them all into copies of the four year old boy. A plague which will wipe out the human race if they cannot be stopped.
The first part of this story (The Empty Child) showed great promise but was hampered slightly by the necessity of providing exposition and introducing Captain Jack Harkness. This episode more than delivers on that potential. The cliffhanger is well-handled with some perfectly logical examples of how best to deal with an enemy behaving like a four year old boy looking for his mummy - even one with superhuman strength designed for alien battlefields.
The pacing is superb, getting off to a breathless start before building mood and atmosphere in some dialogue scenes. Even the getting-stuck-in-one-room works here as it allows for some gentle teasing between Rose and the Doctor.
I liked the moral contrast between the Doctor and Jack - particularly through Rose's eyes. Jack is a dashing former Time Agent who seems to reach for his blaster first in a dangerous situation, whereas the Doctor dislikes such weaponry and prefers bananas - pointing out that they are a good source of potassium.
There is plenty of such humour in this episode and Eccleston and Piper handle it all extremely well. This is easily the episode where the two have the most chemistry together. And the catalyst for this chemistry is Captain Jack Harkness. Rose is quite surprised when the Doctor points out that as Jack comes from the 50th century when humans are used to having relations with all kinds of alien species, the difference between hetero- and homosexual seems quite a lot smaller to him. I can hear 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' reaching for his pen right now!
The joy that the Doctor displays when he finds that "just once everyone can live" is wonderful. He clearly sees this as some kind of penance for being unable to save his own people. And the ending, which reflects the title, is the perfect way to end the episode (I shall just have to try to ignore the teaser which followed it with the return of the Slitheen next week).
Supertoyslast's rating for Doctor Who 27.10?
*****
“Gerald the Dalek” says:
IT’S NOT EA-SY BE-ING A DA-LEK YOU KNOW!!!!! PEO-PLE AL-WAYS JUD-GING YOU, THIN-KING YOU WANT TO EX-TER-MIN-ATE THEIR EN-TIRE PA-THE-TIC, MIS-ER-A-BLE RACE, WHEN ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS VA-POR-IZE ONE OR TWO OF THE MORE AN-NOY-ING BAS-TARDS NOW AND A-GAIN!!!!!!!!! OH NO!!!!!!!!! NO AC-CEP-TANCE FOR GE-RALD!!!!!!! NO-ONE UN-DER-STANDS ME A-PART FROM MY NEW PET!!!!!!!!!! HE IS MY BESHT MATE!!!!!!! I LOVE HIM LIKE AN OO-ZING FLE-SHY BRO-THER!!!!! HE ISH A SACK OF PU-TRES-CENT, STIN-KING WON-DER!!!!!! GAH!!!!!!!!! I HAVE SOME-THING IN MY VI-SU-AL-I-SA-TION SEN-SOR!!!!!!!!!!
There there big guy. See, what’s the best way to make new friends? Alcohol. So what would be the most sensible way to make friends with a Dalek? At the time, the idea of a 24 hour lock-in sounded like the best course of action. However, never, under any circumstances, let an emotionally unstable Dalek drink three bottles of gin and listen to Radiohead. I had the shiny tosser weeping uncontrollably on my shoulder about ‘the companion that got away’ for half an hour (apparently Gerald and Billie Piper had a brief ‘thing’ on the set of ‘Dalek’ but I’m not quite ready to visualise that after 12 pints of Guinness and half a bottle of Jack thank you very much…)
Still, at least we got a chance to catch the latest episode of Dr Who while we were in there! One good thing about having a piss-up with a Dalek is you don’t have to worry about the tab and you get a good view of the telly…
“The Doctor Dances” was a great piece of telly – a cracking script, entertaining dialogue, quality set and costume work and one hell of a creepy little boy. The best bits? There’s quite a few…
“Go to your room! I’m very cross with you!”
“Bananas are good. I like bananas.”
“Are you my mummy?”
“When he gets stressed he likes to insult other species.”
“The tape. It ran out about thirty seconds ago.”
Billie Piper shouting “Going Down”!
“Well I’ve got a banana, and in a pinch you could put up some shelves.”
“I’m coming to find you mummy!”
“This is our song.”
“I think you’re experiencing Captain envy.”
“Watch her Jenkins.” “Yes mummy.”
“My leg’s grown back!” “Well, there is a war on…”
And, of course, the Doctor dances. A solid 9 out of 10 for this one. But I doubt that’ll be the case next week, as the last surviving Slytheen surfaces (their last appearance was the weakest part of the series yet).
Until then I’m off to scrape Dalek bile off the walls and sweep up sizzling bits of landlord.
Dan
BOLLOCKS!!!!!! SENTIMENTAL RUBBISH!!!!!!!!! AN EXTERMINATION RATING OF 0%!!!!!!! I HATE YOU ALL!!!!!! BLEEEERGGHHHHAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GERALD.
“Amir” says:
The Doctor Dances
Well, another nail-biting cliffhanger countered by a light-hearted
beginning
of the following episode. I thought last week’s episode was pretty
tense,
scaring the poodoo out of my seven year old sister. But that’s where
the
difference between this and the previous episode is made clear. I
thought
last episode was pretty cool; my sister loved this episode.
See, those scary “Mummy… Mummy…” zombies from last week have the
Doctor,
Rose and suave ‘Captain’ Jack cornered, never ceasing their
spine-chilling
mantra of doom (okay, that was hackneyed writing, cut me some slack, I
have
a pretty tight deadline to work with here). The Doctor then chastises
the
mob and tells them to “Go to your room”. I figured that was just too
neat a
way to escape that situation. Maybe predictable (I didn’t predict it
since
I’m pretty slow on the uptake), but just too neat.
Anyway, blah-de-blah, more situations where they get trapped, they
find the
room where the first victim was kept, that’s his “room”, so all the
zombies
come there… run out, chase scenes, Jack teleports out, teleports them…
Actually there was a cute (OK, I didn’t want to use that word but it
seems
apt), scratch that, quaint scene where Rose asks the Doctor to dance. I
like
this whole “humanising the Doctor” thing.
Anyhoo, turn’s out that “harmless vessel” that Jack was trying to con This wasn’t a terrible episode, and I’m glad that at least Captain No star rating (not no stars, just I don’t do star ratings) NEXT WEEK: A Slitheen survived, eh? Innaresting. Dear Herc, I didn't see a Doctor Who talkback this week, is that because no one Keep up the great work - The Doctor Dances – A review We will truly miss Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor in a few short The episode starts out with the hanger part of last week’s cliffhanger When the moment started I really wondered how the hell is he going to Once the “gas maskers” have returned to their beds, we spend some time As the story progresses we see the group escape the clutches of the At one point we see Nancy get captured by the family who’s meal was While I don’t want to ruin the ending for you, needless to say, they Overall this is an amazing episode, up there with Rose, and Father’s Hi guys, i saw there was no DR Who review this week so I This weeks DR Who was more of the same as it Let me state this, I lived in the USA for ten years Anyway DR Who is a lot better than expected and as I Can you believe that people tell me that I used to
the
‘Time Agents’ into buying contained Nanogenes: “[ok, I’m paraphrasing,
but
this was the gist] Microscopic robots in the air which repair human
injury,
and there’s enough nanogenes in there to create an entire species.”
Midichlorians
Sith
probably wasn’t out when this was scripted, but we knew about those
dratted
midichlorians thanks to The Phantom Menace. What really bugged me about
the
midichlorians was how they were the “happy-touchy-feely” dues ex
machina
(that’s probably the incorrect usage of that term but I’, trying to
find
fancy here in my lame attempt to show off) which just make everything
nice
again, with all the “fused gas masks” magically coming off, and the
people
not being so hollow again. Too damn neat. Oh yeah, that Dick-van-Dyke
accented girl was the lead zombie’s mum, not his brother, so she says
“I am
your mummy”, etc. My sister was overjoyed, while I just slumped on the
sofa.
Jack has
a happy ending and becomes a new companion (I hope he lasts longer than
that
annoying prick they had to put up with before), and I knew I shouldn’t
have
laughed, but I couldn’t suppress when the Doctor starts dancing merrily
at
the end. Christopher Ecclestone has the role nailed, I’ll give him
that.
“Bananas are good for you, full of potassium.” Cheesy for others, but
Chris
gets it right. Oh yeah, this week’s episode was only 40 minutes. At
least it
didn’t have 11 overly sentimental endings (not that I’m looking at you,
ROTK…). “Kelvington” says:
sent a
review in? If that's the case here is a nice short review of the
episode
for your site. If you use it, please use my name Kelvington.
weeks
and this episode is one of the biggest reasons. Not only do we get to
see
The Doctor’s moves as a dancer, we get to see a gleeful doctor say as
he
figures it all, “Just this once everyone lives”.
as
zombie-esqe gas masked victims of an unusual outbreak of plague are
cornering The Doctor, Rose and Capt. Jack.
get
out of this one? Well he simply told them he was very cross with them,
and
they are to go to their room! Oddly this very nonviolent approach
worked.
As it has done many times in this new incarnation of the series.
running around trying to figure out what caused all this in the first
place.
The Doctor investigates the room where patient zero was originally
put,
and in a very stylized moment, we get a nice little fright as we hear
the
little boy question, “Are you my mummy?” over and over on a reel to
reel
tape, only to hear the thapping of the tape end and realize that the
tape is
over and the boy is now here. After all The Doctor did tell him to go
to
his room.
little
boy and his clan using a sonic gun, a teleporter, and just some old
fashion
trap door escapes. All the while trying to figure out who’s sonic
device is
bigger/better than who’s.
Plus we get the sub-plot of the kids who are roughing it, as they learn
a
little more about their leader Nancy, and the abilities of the little
boy
who loves all things tech it would seem.
taken
over during the raid. She quickly, and cleverly takes the upper hand
and is
off to figure this thing out once and for all.
all
meet up near the mauve tube that started the adventure and sus it all
out in
great fashion. Including a little extra at then end with Capt. Jack.
who
will be traveling with The Doctor and Rose for the rest of the series.
Day,
and shows the new direction the series is taking at the hand of Russell
T
Davies and company. With less emphasis on spark and more on character
and
plot. And just this once… Everyone lives. “Filmrage” says:
decided to send this in. I'll attach it also.
continued from last week storyline. Very good
production values. Story was just ‘ok’ for me but if
I’d seen it when I was 10 which was when I was a DR
Who fanatic then I would have crapped myself alone in
my bedroom for the rest of the night as I remembered
all those creepy gas mask people asking for their
mummy.
and like America and Americans. I respect them as a
people, as a nation and I love American history. I
think American TV is some of the Best in the world
with Deadwood being about the best thing in TV ‘or’
movies. . . but I’m sick to death of the new DR Who
having to feel that it needs to insert American
accented characters into the storyline all the time
(usually badly done by Brit actors too). They either
do it when they need to show someone is a loudmouth
braggart or to make it appeal to Americans more. The
Hitchhikers movie shows the same insecurity too.
"oooooo the Americans won't like our little TV show
unless a few of the characters speak like they do."
Look at shows like the Office. Gervais knew it might
translate to the states yet doesn't compromise one bit
on the dialogue. Look at TLOG, I come from Wakefield
which is the part of West Yorkshire where the lads are
kind of from. Almost every episode I heard phrases
that only people within a few city radius of that
place would get yet they knew the show might be a hit
Britain wide and perhaps even internationally.
Example: "I brought you a doc leaf in case you still
wanted that bab". 'bab' meaning shit/crap/poo. None
Yorkshire people might know what 'bab' meant but many
wouldn’t and there were many other examples. (yeah i
know one DR who was written by a leaguer.
said when you consider it's for kids it's far better
than we had in the John Pertwee/Tom Baker days.
Despite the '90's sensitive man/new age claptrap. I
mean to say a ‘navel gazing Dalek' for Gods sake???
(which I pray said state of mind it was using as a
deception so it could teleport out during the
explosion in order to multiply and conquer another
day.) Anyway the conclusion to this weeks DR was a
mixed bag. Cool and dumb at the same time. The
logic/science of it will thrill kids and inspire their
minds like all good sf ideas do but to adults it was a
bit groan inducing. I try not to mind though and to
appreciate DR Who with my 10yo mind. I’m still very
much appreciative that the theme tune has gone back to
it’s raw roots a bit.
'literally' hide behind the sofa during Who. I don't
remember doing so but I like to imagine it's true. ;).
If I did I bet it was during that episode where the
leather couch was really an alien and when the guy sat
on it, it ate him . . . . oh the farting sound of his
skin screeching on the leather and his screaming as
the couch slowly pulled him in and swallowed him,
that’s one couch you don’t wanna stick your hands down
to look for money. Oh the emotional scars. Despite the
evil of DR who monsters though I still love em all in
all their shaky scenery and rubber costumed glory. And
the greatest of all, The Daleks, Man I love Daleks.
What is this “Doctor Who” we speak of? The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who: The Television Companion
Keen to learn more of Time Lord physiology? Doctor Who: Gallifrey Chronicles
Were Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader two different people in the early drafts of “The Empire Strikes Back”? All is revealed in The Annotated Screenplays (Star Wars, Episodes IV-VI)
Look! A fabulous new book co-edited by big-deal "Buffy"-"Firefly"-"Gilmore Girls" TV writer Jane Espenson. She introduces each of the essays, and the whole book besides:
Finding Serenity : Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly
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+ Expand All
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Christ man! Post it or post it again. Jesus!
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I will be very interested in finding out what happened to Captain Jack during those two years worth of wiped memories. Or is that just what he was told? If memories can be wiped can they also be implanted? Anyway, all in good time. And as far as I know, no date, channel or anything has yet been set for a US debut. Canada have got it, so you're stuck with downloading or importing the DVDs when the full set comes out in the UK.
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...has the newness of the new DW show worn off for UK fans? Even though it is a top-rated Saturday show, and has gotten lots of attention, the ratings keep going down. Does it also factor in that all of the (negative?) press about both Chris and Billie leaving might cause viewers not to watch? Before the new series started airing, I had heard of both Chris (seen him in many movies) and Billie (from her music career, years ago), so they are both obviously well-known (especially in the UK) and had name recognition. I have to admit I have never heard of David Tennant. I think he looks like he might be a good Doctor. I think they need to pick a semi-famous (with name recognition in the UK and at least some in the US) and well-liked female assistant for Tennant's Doctor, or it might not bode well for the future of the series. Tennant might be a fantastic Doctor and his episodes might turn out to be the best ever, but is he famous enough and will his assistant be famous enough to keep the ratings up? From the way it stands now, the producers couldn't have done a more AMAZING job than picking Chris and Billie (who might be an international star in the making), but I hope their quick departures don't mean the end of DW. (Although the actual UK rating SHOULD NOT be as inportant as they are...the DVD and merchandise sales SOULD outweigh the ratings of a series as internationally popular as DW.)
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They'd be surprised to see how many people around the world are watching the new Doctor Who, courtesy of various online sources. It's a great show, and it's a shame some American station hasn't had the intelligence to pick it up. Ratings lie- Check out the number of downloads, and then FIGURE THIS OUT, BBC and ALL STUDIOS: Broadcast it on the internet, include advertisements, and charge a small fee to watch via an online stream or download. Why TV and Movie studios haven't figured out that people WILL watch things from the internet is beyond me. Look at iTunes- Apple's making millions just by charging a very small price to let people download and listen to music whenever they want. Do the same for television, and you'd be able to abandon those lame Nielsons (and whatever the UK has) in favor of seeing ACTUAL NUMBERS of downloads and subscriptions. Why count on a handful of idiots to determine what people are watching when you can REALLY SEE what people are watching on the internet?
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...people have forgotten the best line. To paraphrase slightly, after the doctor tells the zombies to go to their room, he turns to Rose and says. "I'm glad that worked, they'd have been rubbish last words."
The humour and humanity were great in this one , in particular the Doctors joy at saving EVERYONE. It made sense out of him dancing, which could have been just embarrassing.
Not sure if next week is a RTD script but I must admit my heart sank a bit when I saw we were back in contemporary Cardiff. The atmosphere in the historical episodes has been brilliant. We need more of that kind of thing.
Still I can't complain. The hits have been more than the misses in this season and theres a whole new generation of Whovians being created on the back of its success which should ensure the Doctors longevity.
Now how about next season we have a mega long episode called " The 10 Doctors", that'd be something to see. -
This girl is the equivalent of a first poster in talkback. Rushed reviews with little merit. Give me Supertoyslast's anyday
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This will all be explained in the upcoming episode *SPOILER*
.
..
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
.
..
.
. 'Bad Wolf'. -
Finally Talkback registration is back up and running so I can tell Celtican to stop whining. I made a joke about the Welsh in my review of episode 3. That was WEEKS ago. Get over it. That said i agree with the person who said about the 'terrible last words' line. I forgot that one.
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BBCA is the obvious choice, just show it a week late or even at the same time as in the UK which will be at least 5 hours later for the states. I thought they used to show older Dr Who episodes so why no the new ones? And I think I have FINALLY (with the help of all of last week's talkbackers) sussed the series 1, season 27 thing. I think it's obvious, how about this being the 1st series of the 21 Century? Just label the DVD's Series 1 - 21 Century and go from there. Or even Series 1 - 21st Century, Vol. 27 (as other have suggested)? Only a few Who's left, I hope they hold the regeneration over until next season.
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Doctor: Keep the banana
Cap jack: why?
Doctor: It's a good source of potassium -
They have gone down slightly but that's due to a few things - episode 7 'The Long Game' was pretty crap, they moved episode 9 to an earlier time, the weather in the UK has been getting better and ITV cancelled that shit Celebrity Wrestling. As for it being shown in the US, don't hold your breath.
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This episode was splendid.
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far better than harry potter. Why didnt WB hire these guys?
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***spoiler*** the slitheen are back next week. *** and I think Cap Jack's memory loss was explained about his line of having some really hard alchoholic drink and then not remembering anything after that
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Yea, I had that happen to me once. One hard alcoholic drink and then....Wham.......forgot everything. Damn, those were the good old days.
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...send The Sci-Fi Channel or BBC America dollar bills so they will stop whining that they can't afford to friggin' show the new DW episodes!
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send the Sci-fi Channel a pot to piss in.
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It is hard to see why, but scifi channel passed on it. Oh well, downloading it gives me one more reason to think about getting rid of my cable entirely...
I have the feeling that "No one dies!" is foreshadowing for next week when lots of people end up dying. I also wonder what the deal is with the time agents. I don't think that in the history of the series we've ever really seen anyone besides Time Lords travel in time, have we? (of course it has been a really long time since I've seen any of them, so who knows?) -
I enjoyed The Unquiet Dead, Dalek, and Father's Day, all for different reason. The first a classic period piece thriller, the second a nod to the mythology of the series with high emotional stakes, and the third a very "human" episode exploring Rose's past. But honestly, this two-parter had all three of those things, and good humor to boot. The supporting work done by the girl playing Nancy was phenomenal, and the addition of Jack Harkness was a breath of fresh air. The fact that his character is a shade of grey makes it all the better. He's no Turlough, but he has a personal agenda, unlike many companions. The sexually suggestive dialogue at times was also welcome addition. When the Doctor exclaimed "This time, EVERYBODY LIVES!" I couldn't stop smiling. And later when he finally remembers how to dance, my heart nearly burst because it was something so fresh and new for a character 40 years old. I discovered Doctor Who on American PBS back in 1984 at the age of 12. And I was skeptical about this new series when it was announced, especially after that piss-poor TV movie in 1996. Aliens of London and WW3 were quite hokey at times, but it wasn't worse than anything during the Colin Baker or Sylvester McCoy eras. And there have been at least 5 episodes of such great quality I really couldn't have expected or even hoped for more. If you didn't love The Empty Child/Tee Doctor Dances, I don't know what could possible satisfy you, but you're probably stuck in the 80's. This was really one for the ages.
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The Doctor's deadpan 'Rose - I'm resonating concrete.' Had us all laughing our asses of at my gaff. I wasn't really sold on Chris for the first few eps, but I really will miss him now. Oh, and fans should check out the new Ninth Doctor novels. I've just whipped through The Clockwise Man: 1920's London, a creepy woman with masks instead of a face, hulking mechanical suits of armour, cats with laser beams coming out of their eyes... Good Who by anyone's standards, and the writer has really nailed the characterisation. In case anyone is interested...
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Good to know someone actually reads my reviews. It would be a shame to do this for 13 weeks for no result. But I hope that Zoe continues with her reviews since it's good to know that this isn't a "boys only" thing. Thanks for the Captain Jack/Bad Wolf info. If you know any more spoilers - for the love of god don't tell me! And if the thing about the BBC demanding that the rights to the old series being bought with the new, let me be the first brit to say - shame on you BBC! I could easily imagine this being snapped up by one of the networks as a summer filler. Did the BBC demand a similar deal from Canada and Australia?
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Forgive me if some of you know this already, but for the rest: Eccleston will NOT be in the 60min Christmas Special, Billie Piper WILL be in 7 eps next year, an ongoing story-arc will see the return of The Cybermen and new writer Tom MacRae has already handed his Season 2 script to Russell T. who called it 'brilliant'. Oh, and for fans of the books, the next three Ninth Doctor adventures due in September (UK) are The Deviant Strain, Only Human and The Stealers of Dreams.
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Doctor Who has been getting between 7 and 9 million viewers over the 10 episodes shown. It is true episode 10 got the lowest figure of 6.1 m, however this is likely to rise when video recordings are counted. It was still the most watched show on Saturday and easily beat ITV's showing of the X-Men which got 3.5 m. It was the Bank Holiday Weekend so TV viewing is expected to be down.
I really have to say this new series is up there with the Tom Baker Golden Age when it comes to stories.
Hopefully the Cybermen when they return in their 40th anniversary year 2006, will kick the Borgs sorry asses. -
Love the new show. Am lucky to have seen all the episodes even though I am in the US. When is Sci Fi going to get a clue?
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I have like the Doctor ever since I saw my first episodes, with Tom Baker back in the 70's. I don't know if or when this series will be shown here in the US, but there are always the newsgroups and what's left of the bittorrent sites like
http://www.mininova.org/ or
http://www.torrentspy.com/ -
... The next episode is even better! well, so I've been told. Got the info from some bloke in a leather jacket, who I saw exiting an old police box. Great show, great scripts and surprisingly for the BBC, great CGI and assorted other effects. Growing up in England, I think I was one of a only a rare few that thought home-grown sci-fi, like Dr. Who and Blake's 7 were total shit! I was always shouted down by people who said the effects don't matter, it's the story that counts. Yeah, ok, but I can dream up much better effects in my head, so shouldn't they all just be books instead? NO matter who good the story and characters were, if all the action took place in a gravel-pit or if the killer martian invaders were obviously constructed out of used washing-up liquid bottles, then some of the magic disappeared. I never hid behind the sofa, as I was never scared of household cleaning product containers. Once again, darn good show, chaps. Good to see the BBC keeping the British end up! Spiffing.
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three wisemen walked out of the east. Seriously, it would be nice if they picked it up, but it ain't going to happen. Bummer.
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I always thought he had sex, but just not with human companions. Or humans in general for that matter. I figured everyone thought he was tearing it up with Romana but she was a timelord. With all his extra brain matter, and age and all that, humans would seem banal by comparison. Just my 2
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I don't know why people feel the need to say such ludicrous things as "of course, the books are not canon in the new series," as if you had some word from God himself on the subject. Of course they are canon. One has only to look at the fact that Russel T Davies WROTE one of the New Adventures, the fact that he is a big fan of them, and the fact that he has a bloody huge stack of them lined up on the bookshelf in back of his head in almost any filmed interview to see that this is true. I wouldn't expect to have a lot of references because he respects that a lot of people who like the show have not read the books, and they have a right to enjoy the show without having to read them, but cut it out with the "books are not canon" bs.
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I think it varies by property, but in Doctor Who, the books have always been accepted as canon, as opposed to Star Wars or Star Trek where only SOME books are canon.
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If only to quit the circular, ranting discussions about them. Anyway, I love the preview for next week's episode and how it appears to tie both "Unquiet Dead" and "Aliens of London/World War III" together. Interested to see how the Slitheen survived the destruction of Downing Street. Maybe it's not the same one? And how it knew about the rift in Cardiff. Hmph. Lost had 20 plus episodes, but Doctor Who did more with just 13 episodes, managing to create mysteries, show backstories, and then tie it all together in a more than satisfactory manner. The Doctor would've had that hatch open 10 minutes into the episode! ;)
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Ha! Doctor Who is better than Lost. Now I've heard it all... ;)
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Jun 01, 2005 12:39:52 AM CDT
Eccleston's regeneration is going to make or break this new
by col. klink
If the transition from 9th to 10th Doctor is not handled carefully, many of the new generation of Who fans may drift off. Thank God Billie is staying on for half of Season 2 (28?) to provide some continuity!
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I never exactly said Dr. Who was better than Lost. I simply stated that DW managed to create layered mysteries and subplots that are linking up and being answered as the season ends. Lost left way too many threads dangling, but I still love the show to bits. Granted, DW has 3 more episodes left, and who knows if there'll be a cliffhanger along the likes of Tennant showing up early, angrily pointing at Eccelston and proclaiming, "I am the Doctor! This man is...and always has been...an imposter!" *DUN DUN DUN!* I guess then I'd have to revisit my stance on which show handled things better. ;)
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Actually, I hope they don't wrap everything up on WHO. I hope there's plenty left unresolved at the end of this series, to give us something to be clammering for in the next. (like Galactica) As for your vision of an ending to this series, I wouldn't be surprised... ;)
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This series gets better and better. I didn't like the earlier episodes but this type of story is where Who shines - creepy. A lot of the Tom Baker episodes I remember as a kid where like this.
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Jun 01, 2005 10:57:03 AM CDT
"A bunch of pathetic tin-soldier stomping around the galaxy in a
by charlie & tex
...as Tom Baker once said. But it's offical: the Cybermen are back next season. Yes, they are back in the episode The Satan Pit, and you have to wonder how they will look this time...
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C&T's post does bring up the point that these perennial foes of the Doctor always turn up decked out differently each time we see them. The Daleks are fairly rudimentary and have evolved only slightly over the decades. The Cybermen had significantly changed over the years from "cloth and plastic tubing" to "chrome and wire mesh."
You'd almost expect to see Joan Rivers at the end of a silver carpet commenting on what the Cyber Leader is trying to get away with this season. Of course it ends with Joan getting cybertized, but that's what you get for dissing Cyber fashions. Anyway, C&T or anyone else, will the Cybermen be appearing for only that one episode? Since they're my favorite DW baddie race, I was hoping they could be an overall season presence, maybe not featured in every story but shown as taking advantage of the power vacuum left from the dissolution of the Time Lords and Daleks. (Of course, the Dals may not be out of the picture as permanently as the Doc first thought.) Plus, any news on who the new companion(s) might be? As for Tennant, he has a high bar to meet/exceed after the bravo performance from Eccleston in "The Doctor Dances." -
No. RTD said that they would not expressly fact check the books, and at NO time has said that they weren't canon. In most situations like these, the audience is meant to be able to decide whether or not they want to fit the books into their "personal canon" or not. But the option is certainly left open. As for Big Fish, actually they are left the least canon in the mix. Their material is serving as the basis for episodes not in the sense of continuation, but in the sense of canibalization. And a good thing at that, because there's very little that Big Fish put out that wasn't crap.
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A race of androids modeled on Rick James. Russell Davies could get Dave Chappelle to come over to play the Movellan leader. "I'm the Supreme Movellan Commander, you Dalek biotch!" Ha! Oh, mercy! Anyhoo, lynx, I do think your idea has merit. The Movellans may be pure 1970s, but they are memorable. However, are there any Kaleds left? I'm not even sure any Thals are still alive. From "Genesis of the Daleks," I took it that all the Kaleds were wiped out by Davros since the Kaled leaders were going to stop his Dalek project. But it's more than possible that a handful of Kaleds escaped the dome before its destruction. It would be intriguing to see the parent race of the Daleks trying to undo the widespread evil of their progeny. And was it ever explained where the Movellans came from? They countered the Daleks so effectively. A Kaled connection for the making? I'm just hoping the Cybermen, pre-dating the Borg by a good 20 years, don't come off as Borg knockoffs in their return. And if Russell's wise, he'll keep a bit of continuity and get David Banks to come back. Banks really sold the menace of the Cybermen. His Cyber Leader was never afraid to chew up a scene just because he was giant silver cyborg.
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I love David Banks! I hope they do get him back. As for the Cybersuit, we did see a cyberman's head in "Dalek," and it was one of the ones they used between the Trouton and Baker eras, so I would bet that they will be updated but still have the same basic look they always have.
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Sorry for the delay. Anyway, The Satan Pit is a two-part Cybermen story being made to mark the 40th anniversary of their first appearance in The Tenth Planet. With a certain Sylvester McCoy story with them in using the title to mark milestone in the show, the joke would probably be lost if it the new adventure was retitled Ruby Nemesis...
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