Doctor Who 2008: Sontarans cometh, RTD Ood 'ave 'im etc.

xxxpost "I know all. Except I spend about 5 minutes in every episode going 'WHAT?? That's impossible!!'"

Tracer has the right attitude.

Roman family talking like crap soap characters was played for deliberate lolz and it worked.

I liked the sulky son.

I'd just like to point out that the "Father's Day" paradox is not a general paradox rule but it tells you what happens when you try to interfere with your own timeline. Rose can't save her dad because in her timeline, her dad was never alive. Also worth noting that the doctor says if the Time Lords were still around they would be able to fix the paradox but in the doctor's own timeline, the Time Lords are gone preventing them from fixing paradoxes and making sure time works exactly as it should.

Same with the Doctor interfering with past historical events, but making small changes that make no difference - the only reason he's in the past is because his companion is from the future. They become part of events - so many times it's the Doctor himself who causes the historical event, something that he himself can't know beforehand because it's in his own future timeline.

But he does know what happens to the rest of the universe - so he knows that aliens can't destroy the human race in ancient Rome because he meets all his human companions in the future, and it's his job to keep the events as he knows them, otherwise he'd be creating a paradox in his own timeline and that's when them reaper things turn up. Time is a very personal thing for a Time Lord.

also, because it all makes damn good TV.

i would like it to be known that near the end when roman family son and daughter held hands, there was a cry of 'hurray, roman incest' from the Rome watchers here.

Maybe there's an INCEST AGENDAR running through this whole series?

(OK Roz that makes sense)

I loved it, but whenever I see Peter Capaldi or Phil Davis in anything, no matter how shit it sounds, the instinct is OMG YAY.

Yes.

Phil Davis is Britain's greatest actor, large or small screen. Just thought I'd mention that.

I even watched that subpar North Square to watch the Davis act the schmuck, brilliantly.

Does anyone else think by casting Capaldi now they've scuppered a potential post-Tennant nu-Who? It better not be fuckin' Nesbitt.

Nu-Who has already been cast (from my grapevine) as failed UK > US actor Sean Maguire. Staying young, and staying short.

I know this is true because Pete told me.

If they really wanted to cast Capaldi as the Doctor they'd just do it anyway, have him make an in-joke about slightly Roman features in his first scene and then move on.

Haha Capaldi would make an awesomely irascible Doctor

Next Doctor should be a zing master, really. Like when Ecclestone used to be a complete cunt to Mickey just for the fun of it, but worse.

Phil Davis kinda lacks range tho. i think his lahndan accent came thru a few times during his more bullish Doctor-trolling.

I am standing by my nomination of Julian Rhind-Tutt for next Doctor.

Maybe he'd done time in Lahhndinium?

Rhind-Tutt = subtle zinger as witnessed in Hippies, Green Wing and those Barclaycard ads. But maybe he's TOO dry. I have yet to hear a better contender tho.

He lacks an X factor though.

or specifically THE x factor required of a 21st century doctor

He's a bit weedy and ineffectual (though I do love him very much), isn't he? xpost, yes, lacking in x factor

I would like David Morrissey to do it. Or Aiden Gillan (RTD can write him as a zingy bastard no bother at all).

David Morrissey to play Gordon Brown in this year's Christmas special apparently, so that looks off the cards. (Although I am reminded of Colin Baker on the Arc Of Infinity documentary.)

and Eve Myles in the etc etc.

The same insider that tipped me off on Sean Maguire has also said the downtime between series (the three specials next week) will see a BBC Talent Show which has the working title of Who Wants To Me A Companion - but will probably be called Who's Baby, or something silly like that to find the next assistant.

Unlike Maria-esque shows however they will be looking at particular Who skill's like reactions on things being bigger inside than outside, screaming, wuving the Doctor, having irritating parents and running down corridor skills.

No he would be creating a paradox by saving them, UNLESS he was supposed to save them in the first place.

I get the feeling that the Doctor should not have saved them, and while it may not have created a paradox it may create problems for him somewhere down the road. Maybe it causes the timey-wimey rift that let Rose shift between worlds in the first ep?

Obviously he was supposed to save them so they could live on in the Latin course most British students take. Most Septics would miss that detail.

This Sean Maguire rumour has to be a joke. Right? RIGHT?

It's a joke. The new doctor is actually Dean Gaffney.

"Who's Better Who's Best?" would be the talent show.

or "The Regeneration Game"

I get the feeling that the Doctor should not have saved them, and while it may not have created a paradox it may create problems for him somewhere down the road. Maybe it causes the timey-wimey rift that let Rose shift between worlds in the first ep?

-- Nicole, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 01:09 (6 hours ago) Bookmark Link

^^^ this

also, who outside language aspirants does Latin anymore?

I liked this past episode, especially that it had a more serious tenor than the other "first companion's adventure in time" episodes (End of the World, Shakespeare Code).

And especially that they FINALLY at least TRIED to give some kind of wobbly explanation about his whole causing paradoxes vs. changing history by himself thing that I whined about in another thread. The weak explanation of "some things are fixed, and others are not" is at least, well, something.

The Rose / Father's Day thing made a lot more sense paradox-wise, though, because if he saved her father, she probably never would have met the Doctor and had a completely different life, leading to Earth being destroyed by the Daleks well into the future (but earlier than expected) during Bad Wolf time. Saving one random family from the volcano should have unexpected effects, who knows, maybe it'll be addressed later. It's vaguely implied that it will - or it might just be forgotten as a joke, like the police box relief. We'll see! Good ep overall.

Also, nice (very brief) glimpse of the "wow, shit, that is COLD" Doctor, like the one we saw at the end of Family of Blood.

That's probably my favourite aspect of this incarnation, the contrast between the character's jovial, clowning side and ruthless, wrathful side. Has this distinction been as stark in any previous Doctor?

Have we talked about nu-Sontarans yet?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/Sontaran2008.jpg

Bit too 'action figure' for my liking.

They were always the most boring aliens. Apart from looking like potatoes, all they did was bang on about war. So did the Daleks, and they were boring too, but at least they were scary in some way.

That's probably my favourite aspect of this incarnation, the contrast between the character's jovial, clowning side and ruthless, wrathful side. Has this distinction been as stark in any previous Doctor?

7, no doubt.

Apart from looking like potatoes, all they did was bang on about war. So did the Daleks

guess what's gonna happen

I always hated the Sontarans.

guess what's gonna happen

NO. No!

NO NO NO NO NO OH GOD

i 100% support Who enemies battling each other.

http://io9.com/380763/now-you-can-own-two-bakers-and-another-doctor

new freakish toys:

http://io9.com/380763/now-you-can-own-two-bakers-and-another-doctor

or rather:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/5188/drwhotoysbigoc1.jpg

I quite want the Tom one.

I love the story about the BBC costume person being given a bunch of yarn to knit that scarf with, and not understanding that she wasn't expected to use the ENTIRE thing of yarn.

As if I'm not already a big enough spod:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj58/vzbx/dwbooks.jpg

NOTE THE PRESENCE OF HUMAN NATURE AND DAMAGED GOODS AND HAPPY ENDINGS

What's on the top shelf? And are all of these novels, or are there any DVDs in there? And what the heck's a spod?