Topic: New Doctor Who (Read 59236 times)

Verde · « **Reply #520 on:** May 25, 2011, 03:24:12 AM »

My only real gripe is that the episode was written by the guy who wrote Life on Mars, but it lacked the humour that made that show so great. I mean, they used Marshall Lancaster to basically reprise his role from Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, so it would've been nice to give one of the characters some of the blunt wordplay we know the writer does so well.

Anyway, it was pretty great and I'm glad they were bold enough to let it be a slow-burner. The pacing was spot on, and the doppelgänger plot actually worked really well for the reasons Mothra said up there. This season is such an improvement on last season it's kind of ridiculous.

Verde · « **Reply #521 on:** May 25, 2011, 06:20:51 AM »

The Cybermen are back

I'm burned out on Cybermen and Daleks, but okay whatever

Thad · « **Reply #522 on:** May 25, 2011, 03:55:33 PM »

Technically I do believe this is the first time we've seen the OG Cybermen on the new series.

That's probably a trivial distinction, but maybe it's not.

Mothra · « **Reply #523 on:** May 27, 2011, 04:54:39 AM »

noooooooooooooooooooooo

Royal☭ · « **Reply #524 on:** May 27, 2011, 05:25:43 AM »

An episode with Cybermen AND those dumb lizard people? And here I thought Rebel Flesh was going to be the worst episode of the season.

Thad · « **Reply #525 on:** May 27, 2011, 11:44:32 PM »

Rebel Flesh was WAY better than Curse of the Black Spot.

Anyway. On the Auton theory: the people working with the Flesh (that's what it was called, right?) are humans, right? So that would mean this is the future. But given that we've seen the Autons as far back as the Roman Empire, could their origin occur in the future? Do they have access to time travel?

I'm sure there's a wiki somewhere that's got a list of the Doctor Who races who have time travel technology, but off the top of my head:

Time Lords are the only ones who can really use it effectively. They're the only ones who have TARDISes. Given that there's now only one Time Lord and one TARDIS -- and it's not particularly reliable -- it is probably safe to say that nobody really has the ability to travel anywhere they want in space and time anymore.

Daleks have access to time travel to, but as far as we've seen it's far more limited and unreliable than the Time Lord version. We've seen them take emergency hops through time, and also whatever the fuck happened in The Stolen Earth, but the specifics of the Time War are still unclear.

And Jack's from the future. I forget whether he was an actual time cop or was just impersonating one, but either way that implies that at some point in the future there are human time cops, though if I had to guess I'd say the time cops are probably a coalition consisting of a number of different galactic races.

The Weeping Angels can send people back in time but can't travel through time themselves, or they wouldn't have wanted the TARDIS.

The Cybermen have been sent back in time on more than one occasion (and the ones we've seen on the series to date traveled here from a parallel universe) but so far as I know they don't have time-travel technology themselves.

Thad · « **Reply #526 on:** May 28, 2011, 07:10:20 PM »

...well, that was a bunch of really predictable twists topped off with one I definitely did NOT see coming. Which is not to say it was good, necessarily, but it was definitely unexpected.

I still like my ending much better.

Bal · « **Reply #527 on:** May 29, 2011, 09:14:15 AM »

The time cops use the rift generator arm thingamajig that the doctor reviles and primitive and dangerous, and that River uses pretty consistently to catch up to wherever the Doctor happens to be. Apparently it exposes you to raw rift energy, and the Time Lords are a bit hoity toity about any time travel tech that isn't TARDIS perfect.

Thad · « **Reply #528 on:** June 04, 2011, 05:35:05 PM »

Welp.

That felt a lot like a Rusty episode, really, with the Kitchen Sink-ness and the Doctor-as-Vengeful-God-ness. But it felt like a GOOD Rusty episode, where it was written entirely around satisfying little character arcs.

As for the money shot...well, I don't think anybody was surprised by it at this point (it's been telegraphed all year and they telegraphed the HELL out of it here), but it felt plenty satisfying.

Also made for a surprisingly tidy break. There'd been the "Part 1" implications, but this was definitely an end to an arc and not a major cliffhanger.

Speculation fuel: the Omega iconography.

Bal · « **Reply #529 on:** June 05, 2011, 03:34:38 AM »

I did not expect the very last twist to be exactly what it was, but I wasn't "surprised" by it either.

Rory gets to be a god damned action hero now though, which is worth the price of admission all on its own.

Niku · « **Reply #530 on:** June 05, 2011, 05:29:57 AM »

It was super telegraphed like Thad said, so not a surprise, but [spoiler]I'm still kicking myself for not immediately going Melody Pond = River Song at the beginning of the episode.[/spoiler]

Mothra · « **Reply #531 on:** June 05, 2011, 06:28:31 AM »

No way

Thad · « **Reply #532 on:** June 05, 2011, 09:22:24 AM »

Quote from: Niku on June 05, 2011, 05:29:57 AM

It was super telegraphed like Thad said, so not a surprise, but [spoiler]I'm still kicking myself for not immediately going Melody Pond = River Song at the beginning of the episode.[/spoiler]

Yeah, I made the "River as opposed to Pond" connection weeks ago so it jumped out. And the linguist in me loves shit like this. (My favorite Green Lantern story is the one with the F-Sharp Bell (so named because he comes from a blind species that has no translation for "Green" or "Lantern" and Katma Tui has to explain it to him through a sound metaphor instead of a visual one) -- even used it in a linguistics assignment in college.)

Anyhow. While we know who River is now, there are still plenty of unanswered questions about her relationship to the Doctor, and I look forward to the mystery continuing to unravel.

Conjecture: the untranslated Gallifreyan text on his crib could be his name. Since it's his crib and all. (And nice touch that the TARDIS doesn't translate its creators' native language, because of course, why would it?)

Bal · « **Reply #533 on:** June 12, 2011, 03:44:45 PM »

So apparently I've been a week behind this whole time, because I got lazy and just started watching the BBC America broadcasts. I guess all the things you guys said in these posts make a lot more sense when you're talking about A Good Man Goes to War and not the second half of the Flesh two parter like I thought you were. That'll teach me for skiving off downloading HD BBC1 versions of every episode.

Yeah, the final twist WAS totally telegraphed, and awesome. Additionally, the Doctor and River hook up, obviously, which has GOT to be weird for Amy, but on the other hand could she pick a better man? Entering stasis pod until the new episodes come, or it malfunctions and I end up on the planet of the apes.

Sharkey · « **Reply #534 on:** June 14, 2011, 02:38:55 AM »

"Friendship dies and true love lies."

I kinda liked bits of this one, but just... Jesus wept, that's some shitty doggerel. Between that and the bit in Beast Below I think Moffat needs an intervention re: fucking godawful poetry.

Norondor · « **Reply #535 on:** June 14, 2011, 02:48:59 AM »

I didn't know John Darnielle was writing for the BBC!

Norondor · « **Reply #536 on:** June 14, 2011, 02:49:14 AM »

~~FUCKING ICE SLAM~~

Sharkey · « **Reply #537 on:** June 14, 2011, 03:01:39 AM »

Hey. Fuck you.

Thad · « **Reply #538 on:** June 14, 2011, 02:48:18 PM »

...wow, Sharkey's posting.

We need to get inundated by spambots more often.

Thad · « **Reply #539 on:** July 24, 2011, 09:31:26 PM »

Doctor Who - Comic Con 2011 Trailer

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Author Topic: New Doctor Who (Read 59236 times)