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Author Topic: New Doctor Who  (Read 59257 times)

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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #20 on: April 19, 2008, 05:03:27 PM »

Planet of the Ood had some pretty cool imagery and moved at a brisk pace.  The allegory was on the lazy side, and Donna's "I can't tell what's right or wrong anymore" comment seemed a bit of a non sequitur for an episode where good and evil are so clearly defined.

We've also got the prophecy du annee, and our first concrete indicator that [spoiler]the Tenth Doctor's days are numbered[/spoiler].  The "let's work some foreshadowing into the ending of an episode with an otherwise self-contained story" bit has been done before in both "Fear Her" and "Gridlock", but it's been employed much more effectively so far in this season.  (Fear Her wasn't nearly as good an ep as this was, and Gridlock is possibly the worst episode of the entire series IMO.)

Next week we've got Martha, UNIT, and Sontarans, so fan service all around.  (Would be just swell to see Nicholas Courtney put in an appearance; he's been quite active over the years doing radio serials and DVD commentaries.)
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Mothra

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #21 on: April 25, 2008, 01:48:40 PM »

Thoughts on season 4 so far:

Donna is probably the worst companion in the history of the show. I'm all for having an older companion who's not obligated to worry about or even mention her parents, which happened way too much over the past three seasons, but good christ, what is the appeal of her character supposed to be? She's loud, she's as starry-eyed and exhaustingly celebratory as Rose or Martha, her sass goes only so far as is necessary to re-assert that she's got sass, her voice sounds like a million screaming british chavs (and this is intentional), she isn't funny, and she doesn't really seem to understand anything, no matter how many times it's explained to her. In short, she only barely fills the role of the ignorant audience while bringing absolutely nothing new to the table.

Fires of Pompeii would've worked a lot better without shoving the random race of psychic rock people bent on world domination into the last fifteen minutes of the episode. In fact, I think it would've been a pretty good episode if it had no bad guy but the inevitable destruction of Pompeii. At least then the decision to let it burn wouldn't have seemed so one-sided and, well, "easy".

Planet of the Ood is pretty much the most formulaic Doctor Who episode I've ever seen. There's a "oh how wonderful the universe and humanity is!" speech at the opening, there's a monster, there's a couple of murders as the Doctor figures out who the bad guy is, and then the bad guy is killed and everything in the entire tri-galaxy radius is solved in the space of a couple of minutes.

After re-watching The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit and Blink with my roommates, it's steadily becoming clear to me how huge the gap in quality is between writers like Moffat or Jones and writers like Davis or Moran. This is a show with nothing to fall back on but the (frankly, fascinating) character of the Doctor, and the story.

Next week we've got Martha, UNIT, and Sontarans, so fan service all around.  (Would be just swell to see Nicholas Courtney put in an appearance; he's been quite active over the years doing radio serials and DVD commentaries.)

Not to imply I didn't love the cult of Skaro, but the sooner we run out of fanservice and move on to something a little less black and white, the better. Getting pretty sick of monster of the week.
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Misha

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #22 on: April 25, 2008, 02:23:49 PM »

planet of the ood was pretty lame. the "I do evil because I love money" villain is over-used and dull, and the ood's physiology was just nonsensical. donna is still terrible but I'm growing used to it.

I really did not like the implication of fires of pompeii, that the reason terrible events in history had to happen was that something even worse would happen instead. what next, hitler had to slaughter 6 million jews because those six million were actually aliens in disguise?

apart from the megacrabs, I actually liked gridlock
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #23 on: April 25, 2008, 07:59:08 PM »

Jesus, Drethelin, you can't even keep from invoking Godwin's Law in a thread about fucking children's television.

Planet of the Ood is pretty much the most formulaic Doctor Who episode I've ever seen. There's a "oh how wonderful the universe and humanity is!" speech at the opening, there's a monster, there's a couple of murders as the Doctor figures out who the bad guy is, and then the bad guy is killed and everything in the entire tri-galaxy radius is solved in the space of a couple of minutes.

No, if the Doctor had been arrested for the murders and his name had only been cleared after the real murderer revealed himself, THEN it would be the most formulaic Doctor Who episode ever.

After re-watching The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit and Blink with my roommates, it's steadily becoming clear to me how huge the gap in quality is between writers like Moffat or Jones and writers like Davis or Moran. This is a show with nothing to fall back on but the (frankly, fascinating) character of the Doctor, and the story.

I liked Martha quite a bit.  And while I thoroughly loathed Donna in her first appearance, I find her tolerable in the current season.

Not to imply I didn't love the cult of Skaro, but the sooner we run out of fanservice and move on to something a little less black and white, the better. Getting pretty sick of monster of the week.

See, I liked the first appearance of the Cult of Skaro, but the Daleks in Manhattan arc was lame.  In fact, I think this season's off to a much better start than some -- End of the World, Aliens of London/World War Three, The Long Game, New Earth, the aforementioned Daleks in Manhattan two-parter, and oh sweet mercy Gridlock all fall into the "bumpy start" category.

Doctor Who's got a lot of history, so it's not the fan service I have a problem with.  I DO think the Daleks have been way, way overused (to repeat what I said earlier in the thread, they only showed up twice in Baker's entire 8-year run, and the second time wasn't very good), but the other nods to the original series -- Autons, Sarah Jane, K9, Cybermen, the Fifth Doctor, and yeah, much of the Daleks' first few appearances -- have been largely well done; the Master arc was great until the last part.  Bringing back Martha and UNIT is a perfectly good idea, and hey, if they can make the Sontarans interesting, I'm all for that too.  Davros isn't inherently a bad idea either, but I sure wish they'd give the Daleks a rest.  Bringing back Rose isn't something that really needed to be done either, obviously.

Continuity's not the problem -- it's Doctor Who, for chrissake.  A good story's a good story; there are plenty of bad eps that DON'T rely on references to earlier stories, and a handful of good ones that do.
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Mothra

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #24 on: April 25, 2008, 09:07:11 PM »

I've had a lot harder time than most enjoying Doctor Who fanservice. I can't get into the Cybermen because, while they certainly look pretty awesome, there is absolutely nothing to them aside from their desire to blow up the world. I can't get into the Daleks because, while they're sometimes funny, there is absolutely nothing to them aside from their desire to blow up the world. I like the old Doctor Who and all, but it's a lot like regular Doctor Who in that the best thing about it was whoever was writing. As characters, Devros, the Sontarans, the Autons, etc, are pretty one-dimensional villains who worked in their original episodes only due to the suspense of the leadup and the suprise of the resolution. Outside of that, they've really only been doled out whenever the current show needed some action, and large-scale action really is not this show's strong suit.

I liked Martha quite a bit.

Agreed. Aside from all the "oh no my familyy" stuff, I never minded having her around. She didn't really ADD all that much, but was she energetic, occasionally amusing, and pretty damn easy on the eyes. Still think Turlogh rocks the "best companion" cupcake, though.

the Master arc was great until the last part.

I really liked the new Master, and he had an interesting role to fill as the Doctor's evil twin, so I was pretty stoked when he showed up. Wish his arc had finished a little stronger instead of just throwing him back up into the role of Guy Who Wants To Rule The World, but I guess hoping for something a little sexier than WORLD INVASION for the season finale was asking a bit much.

I dunno, I just look back on all the worthwhile episodes in the past few seasons, and only the ones with completely original ideas and villains - The Satan Pit, Doctor Dances, Girl in the Fireplace, Idiot's Lantern, 42, Family of Blood, Blink - stand out as good ones. Utopia stands in my mind as one of the few instances where fantastic setting and premise was mixed with fanservice characters quite nicely. I've always had a hard gay for continuity, but I think it bogs down Doctor Who more than any other show I've seen.
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Royal☭

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #25 on: April 25, 2008, 09:19:00 PM »

I've actually found the season is getting better since the beginning.   They haven't been terribly deep episodes, but by focusing on just being fantastical they hit a rather easy stride.  This may also be because I don't think Tenant can deliver the pathos like Eccleston could, but that's just me.

Fires of Pompeii was just an enjoyable little time travel episode.   The real fun of the episode comes in giant magma creatures attacking Rome.  The House Gods bit was a tad cute, but otherwise the episode was just popcorn entertainment for its own sake.

Planet of the Ood gets points for both not being set on Earth and for developing the only really interesting original creation in the shows newer run.  They still can't mix season long arcs with shorter episode arcs, but it still has a chance to beat out season 3's.

The show hasn't hit the low point of Fear Her or Gridlock yet, but it still has room to grow.  I'd like to see them develop their own characters and villians, but first they need some that are worth a damn.

And as far as companions go, I actually like they that develop them besides just being Mary Sues who ride around with the Doctor.  Technically speaking, the Doctor is a very static character who doesn't change much except when he nearly dies.  In order for them to have larger character arcs and more functional dimensions they need someone who can change and interact like a real person.

Misha

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #26 on: April 25, 2008, 11:28:11 PM »

I HAVE SCORED A TELLING BLOW AGAINST MY INTERNET ARGUMENT OPPONENT BY MAKING A REFERENCE TO GODWIN'S LAW. MARVEL AT MY WIT.

seriously thad, that wasn't any sort of actual response to the fact that I have a problem with "terrible shit has to happen in history otherwise other even more terrible shit will happen." while I'm willing to suspend disbelief about demons that appear to prevent paradoxes or whatever I'm unwilling to believe that history is the best way things could've happened and the only changes that can be made are for the worse.
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #27 on: April 26, 2008, 12:42:53 AM »

Starting with the tangent first:

I HAVE SCORED A TELLING BLOW AGAINST MY INTERNET ARGUMENT OPPONENT BY MAKING A REFERENCE TO GODWIN'S LAW. MARVEL AT MY WIT.

Don't flatter yourself, Drethelin; there's a big difference between "argument opponent" and "guy who says stupid shit all the time".

Moving on to the subject at hand:

I've had a lot harder time than most enjoying Doctor Who fanservice. I can't get into the Cybermen because, while they certainly look pretty awesome, there is absolutely nothing to them aside from their desire to blow up the world. I can't get into the Daleks because, while they're sometimes funny, there is absolutely nothing to them aside from their desire to blow up the world.

Depends.  I'm less impressed by the Cybermen than most, but there've been some good scary Dalek eps -- as well as some thoroughly stupid ones, and some that fall somewhere in the middle.

The Daleks, at their best, are something that you laugh at at first sight but, after spending enough time with the series, can gasp along when they slide into a room simply on the strength of the actors' reactions to them.  At their worst, of course, they ARE just another Freak of the Week.

I like the old Doctor Who and all, but it's a lot like regular Doctor Who in that the best thing about it was whoever was writing. As characters, Devros, the Sontarans, the Autons, etc, are pretty one-dimensional villains who worked in their original episodes only due to the suspense of the leadup and the suprise of the resolution.

Wow, I'm going to have to disagree with you on all counts.  The resolutions to ALL those villains' original appearances were really hackneyed.  Davros's in particular.

Outside of that, they've really only been doled out whenever the current show needed some action, and large-scale action really is not this show's strong suit.

I would say that the original "Dalek" ep and the first Cybermen arc were well-told stories and not just flash.  The second and third Dalek stories had their moments too, though the last was pretty lame.

I really liked the new Master, and he had an interesting role to fill as the Doctor's evil twin, so I was pretty stoked when he showed up. Wish his arc had finished a little stronger instead of just throwing him back up into the role of Guy Who Wants To Rule The World, but I guess hoping for something a little sexier than WORLD INVASION for the season finale was asking a bit much.

I didn't mind that so much -- it's the sort of thing the Master would do, and the fact that he did it more to hurt the Doctor than as an ends in and of itself was classic Master -- but the denouement was lousy.  As Shark said when it aired, it was "clap your hands" deus ex machina followed by a giant reset switch, and closing with the ring schtick from Flash Gordon.

I dunno, I just look back on all the worthwhile episodes in the past few seasons, and only the ones with completely original ideas and villains - The Satan Pit, Doctor Dances, Girl in the Fireplace, Idiot's Lantern, 42, Family of Blood, Blink - stand out as good ones.

See above for my thoughts on the initial Dalek and Cybermen eps; thought they were pretty good.

I liked Impossible Planet/Satan Pit, but it's hard to call it an original idea, much less an original villain.  Cool setting and good suspense, but demonic possession is hardly a new concept.

Idiot's Lantern was kind of cool because of its setting, but the "people get sucked into TV's" bit isn't new, and the "companion gets sucked into another world and Doctor has to save her"/"Doctor gets sucked into another world and companion has to save him" bit is plenty played.  Plus the showdown on the radio tower was straight out of Logopolis.  It was all right, but I certainly wouldn't count it as one of the best.

And as for 42...really?  You're going to call THAT one original?  It is the SAME FUCKING EPISODE as Impossible Planet/Satan Pit.  I mean, I liked it, but...well, the fact that I liked it despite it being largely redundant is sort of the point.

I don't think Tenant can deliver the pathos like Eccleston could, but that's just me.

[...]

Technically speaking, the Doctor is a very static character who doesn't change much except when he nearly dies.

Disagree.

While Tennant inherited Eccleston's "whatever the cost" inclinations (which weren't really new with the Ninth Doctor, either; the Ninth's agonizing over whether to destroy the Daleks at the cost of the Earth mirrored the Fourth's "Have I the right?" moment when faced with the opportunity to destroy the first Daleks before they had the opportunity to do any harm), he's expanded on them.  The saving grace of "Runaway Bride" was the moment with the flames, and since then we've seen him coldly mete out justice in "Family of Blood" (after his very well-played self-sacrifice scene as John Smith), and Fires of Pompeii was another one about making hard decisions.  Donna's most interesting attribute is that she grounds him, she pulls him back from the brink and keeps him human.  That's true of all the companions in the current series, but it's more overt in her case -- though I can understand how some might not see "more overt" as a good thing.
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Mothra

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #28 on: April 26, 2008, 01:39:53 PM »

The Daleks, at their best, are something that you laugh at at first sight but, after spending enough time with the series, can gasp along when they slide into a room simply on the strength of the actors' reactions to them.  At their worst, of course, they ARE just another Freak of the Week.

I like the Daleks in the sense that they've clearly given no thought to appearances in the least, rather, have maintained their design simply because it works. Their outside reflects how devoid of concepts like fear or athetics they are, which itself is kind of eerie in that they're believably single-minded in their exterminatin'.

Outside of that, they're a little too damn goofy to take seriously unless you grew up with them.

Wow, I'm going to have to disagree with you on all counts.  The resolutions to ALL those villains' original appearances were really hackneyed.  Davros's in particular.

Well, I meant more the "what's going on here" of the buildup and the "oh it's an alien" reveal at the end, not so much how the conflict between the two played out.

I liked Impossible Planet/Satan Pit, but it's hard to call it an original idea, much less an original villain.  Cool setting and good suspense, but demonic possession is hardly a new concept.

I suppose as far as the villain goes, yeah, I'll give you that. I mostly just love that arc because it explores what kind of religion a five thousand year old immortal time traveler would have, and what he would want to believe in after seeing all that he's seen.

Idiot's Lantern was kind of cool because of its setting, but the "people get sucked into TV's" bit isn't new, and the "companion gets sucked into another world and Doctor has to save her"/"Doctor gets sucked into another world and companion has to save him" bit is plenty played.  Plus the showdown on the radio tower was straight out of Logopolis.  It was all right, but I certainly wouldn't count it as one of the best.

Never seen Logopolis, but I liked it mostly due to the time period, the whole radio tower bit, and the way the Doctor manages to throw together a hideously ugly alienmajigger out of a pile of vacuum tubes and transistors. Everything else was admittedly kind of gay.

And as for 42...really?  You're going to call THAT one original?  It is the SAME FUCKING EPISODE as Impossible Planet/Satan Pit.  I mean, I liked it, but...well, the fact that I liked it despite it being largely redundant is sort of the point.

It's the same exact setting and atmosphere, yeah, and there's even a good amount of demonic possesion flying around, but I guess I'm just a sucker for the "hurtling towards the sun" angle, even if it falls on its face (coughsunshinecough) almost every time it's doled out. Ephemeral energy sun monster was a pretty cool idea, too, if only because it was an entirely original and interesting monster for once.
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #29 on: April 26, 2008, 06:46:02 PM »

New ep pretty good, though obviously the big question is how it's going to play out.  As the Doctor noted, there's something not quite right here; Sontarans don't do subterfuge and infiltration.

Interesting to see a little more development on Martha, particularly the notion that her travel with the Doctor has made her a harder person.  The Doctor's distaste for UNIT is rather an interesting wrinkle and obviously a far cry from the Second and Third working there.  I never caught Robot, but skimming the last few paragraphs of the Wikipedia summary suggests he left UNIT on pleasant terms.

Hard to judge this one from the first half; lots of buildup and I need to see where they're going with it.

Of course, I DID note that the circular bumps around the middle of the Sontaran ship looked awfully familiar.
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Sharkey

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #30 on: April 28, 2008, 07:04:40 PM »

Well, this is probably the first one of this season I've genuinely enjoyed, and the first one ever that I've so clearly enjoyed because of the direction rather than the writing. Seriously, dude yelling at the guys behind the camera (who was that? Thad can check IMDB by virtue of him giving much more of a fuck) made the difference between hamfisted "GPS and DHS am Evil" horseshit and just plain enjoyable action with a bit of a clever subtext. The whole Department of Homeworld Security bit was fucking cute, but the camerawork and editing was the difference between beating me about the head and neck with a stupid social metaphor and actually making this shit fun. Yeah, there's that whole bit about the militaristic nature of UNIT and the Sontarians (sp? Fuck you) being their respective strengths/weaknesses, but mostly I was just getting a kick out of the whole damn thing. Good show all around.

Also, there was some pretty damn snappy characterization with the underchallenged frat-brat that I sincerely hope to see explored a bit more. Sure, it'd be satisfying to see him make the bad choice and watch him get exploded for it or whatever, but hey, wouldn't it be fucking slick to see him made a companion with some actual depth and regret that we're familiar with through shit he pulled on camera? There was a chance to do that with the shithead from Dalek that was passed over that never happened. And, naturally, this will never happen, either. Count on it ending on a dumbass gag comparable to the fingersnapping head-opens gag.

But hey, Donna gets some development beyond being a shrieking harpy, so that's something.


Additionally, nice catch with the bumps on the spaceship. I'm sure it's a bit of astute observation that will go down with "Hey, the tocclafane-or-however-the-fuck-you-spell-em sound just exactly like the undead-thingamagigs-from-that-third-episode-that-sucked" in the category of Perfectly Reasonable Fan Speculation That Was Wrong But Would Have Been Awesome. I'm more prone to chalking it up to the BBC sucking a bit, personally.
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #31 on: April 30, 2008, 01:01:38 PM »

"GPS and DHS am Evil" horseshit

Yeah, what the hell's up with that, anyway?  This is the THIRD TIME they've done the "new technology that everyone uses is actually an insidious plot by a classic Doctor Who villain" bit.

EDIT/AFTERTHOUGHT:

Additionally, nice catch with the bumps on the spaceship. I'm sure it's a bit of astute observation that will go down with "Hey, the tocclafane-or-however-the-fuck-you-spell-em sound just exactly like the undead-thingamagigs-from-that-third-episode-that-sucked" in the category of Perfectly Reasonable Fan Speculation That Was Wrong But Would Have Been Awesome. I'm more prone to chalking it up to the BBC sucking a bit, personally.

Or my personal favorite, the fan theories after Matrix 2 that the reason Neo could use his powers in the "real" world was that it was just another Matrix and the multiple Matrices the Architect referred to were actually concentric...but then in the third movie it turned out that no, actually he was just Jesus.

Anyway.  I'll give this one a fifty-fifty.  I'm willing to bet that RTD starts dropping Davros hints early in the season to gear up for the big reveal in the final arc, just like he did with the Master last year.

(AFAIK Davros is still technically unconfirmed, but of the various rumors I'd say that one's basically a certainty.  He's the logical followup for Daleks, Cybermen, and Master in the first three seasons, and they just released a Davros box set in England.)
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Royal☭

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #32 on: May 01, 2008, 12:41:53 PM »



Now we're talking.

Mothra

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #33 on: May 03, 2008, 05:55:36 PM »

Ohhhh mannnnn
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #34 on: May 03, 2008, 08:27:55 PM »

Indeed.  What Shark said about the first ep being a good straight-up action story goes double for the second.

Also, the [spoiler]"Are you my mummy?"[/spoiler] ref was a good laugh.

Also, there was some pretty damn snappy characterization with the underchallenged frat-brat that I sincerely hope to see explored a bit more. Sure, it'd be satisfying to see him make the bad choice and watch him get exploded for it or whatever, but hey, wouldn't it be fucking slick to see him made a companion with some actual depth and regret that we're familiar with through shit he pulled on camera? There was a chance to do that with the shithead from Dalek that was passed over that never happened. And, naturally, this will never happen, either. Count on it ending on a dumbass gag comparable to the fingersnapping head-opens gag.

[spoiler]Nice to get something somewhere in-between.  Totally predictable, not to mention too visually similar to Pete saving Rose at the end of season 2, but hey, they did something good with him.[/spoiler]

And a nice setup with the ending -- would have been nice for them just to leave the significance of [spoiler]the hand[/spoiler] for next week rather than just spell it right out with the preview for next week's show, but then again, the premise of next week's show has been common knowledge for some time now.

The question is, who is she and where'd she come from?  Some of the less-reliable sources I've seen say clone, but two clone stories back-to-back seems a little odd.  Then again, if she's an honest-to-goodness Time Lady, that's going to require a convoluted explanation; there can't be THAT many Time Lords hiding their essences in fob watches across the universe.

One resolution would be to finally answer the "Are there Gallifreyans who aren't Time Lords?" question that Susan has made the frequent subject of fan speculation.

And really, if there's no reference to Susan at all in the ep, that's going to seem like a pretty odd move.  I expect at least a throwaway line like Brig got.

...Assuming the eps keep coming out weekly, we've got a Moffat 2-parter starting in 3 weeks.  Looking forward to that.
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Mothra

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #35 on: May 04, 2008, 03:41:08 PM »

I really did like the Sontarans as generic bad guys, if only because General Staal was just a straight-up, confident-as-balls gentleman about his genocidin'. They're a lot more enjoyable to listen to than most villains in this show, and I ended up liking most of U.N.I.T. for the same reason; don't really see why this show always has to choose between personality and competence.

That said, Poison Sky was pretty much exactly the same as every other world-invasion two-parter of the past four seasons. The brass ignore the Doctor, bunch of extras die, Doctor bullshits some super-science, deus ex machina. Awesome. I guess it just annoys me how pretty much every character introduced, like Colonel Mace, remain completely static until they're either killed for dramatic effect, or they load their guns with slightly different bullets and the original plan goes off without a hitch. I think the characterization of Battlestar has completely spoiled the time-honored B-movie sci-fi standard for me.

Also I mean I'm not a scientist but I get the feeling you can't just light the entire atmosphere on fire for a couple of minutes and not suffer some sort of negative consequence. I mean jesus christ.
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #36 on: May 04, 2008, 05:12:05 PM »

That said, Poison Sky was pretty much exactly the same as every other world-invasion two-parter of the past four seasons. The brass ignore the Doctor, bunch of extras die, Doctor bullshits some super-science, Doctor almost nobly sacrifices self, deus ex machina.

I guess by adding that step I eliminate Doomsday, but I think it holds for the rest.
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #37 on: May 11, 2008, 12:06:59 AM »

A thoroughly conventional episode.  Could have been a lot better, but could have been a lot worse.

The clone thing seemed a bit of a copout, but probably better than the backflips it would have required to have another Time Lord survive the Time War.  Plus, leaving the Doctor's children dead has a strong effect on his character in and of itself.

[spoiler]The Genesis Device copout was a bit lame, but I'll allow it given that it would have been lamer just to kill off such a potentially interesting character so soon.

The question is when she comes back; I would assume before the season's through.

It's already been established, several times, that the Doctor has the power to detect other Time Lords in the universe, so why can't he detect that she's still alive?  Best guess is the line early in the ep where he says there's more to being a Time Lord than just physiology, which would also explain why he was so ready to accept that she was really dead and wouldn't regenerate.  (I'm going to avoid any sort of analysis of the rules of regeneration, because it has been so fucking inconsistent over the course of the series that it's not worth trying to establish any.)[/spoiler]

Anyway.  My big takeaway from this is...I am still counting the weeks to the next Moffat arc.
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Mothra

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #38 on: May 18, 2008, 02:35:41 PM »

For a brief, terrifying moment, I thought that this crushingly mediocre, masturbatory episode of PBS' Mystery was the first part of Moffat's arc. Hoooooooo.

I will say, though, that this is probably the first time I haven't been annoyed with Donna being around. Progress!
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Thad

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Re: New Doctor Who
« Reply #39 on: May 19, 2008, 10:43:06 PM »

It wasn't a bad high-concept, and I've certainly seen much worse episodes (though probably not this season), but yeah, for an episode attempting to combine mystery and comedy, it failed badly at both.  The jokes fell flat, and the solution to the mystery was utterly nonsensical.

And it's not like you can't combine alien monsters with good mystery and a dash of humor -- Moffat's already done it twice (I'm excluding Girl in the Fireplace as it's not really a mystery), and seems set to do it again in two weeks.

On the plus side, at least this was a mediocre episode that stands alone rather than advance any continuing arcs.  As opposed to, say, my all-time least favorite, Gridlock, which had some pretty important stuff happen at the end.

They're taking Memorial Day weekend off, but that's fine by me as I'll be out of town anyway.  But definitely looking forward to the next two.
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