I really, really wish I hadn't emailed aldo for what happens at the end.
― James Morrison, Friday, 9 May 2008 01:37 (sixteen years ago) link
Hurts yr brane, doesn't it.
― aldo, Friday, 9 May 2008 06:44 (sixteen years ago) link
only the overdone harpy bitch mother trope, making Mrs. Noble #3 in this series
I could almost convince myself that RTD dragging this one out again and again for any mother character or anything resembling it (alien foster nurse from Adipose episode, hello) is kind of irresponsible for a family show.
I'm probably just being silly here, but still, there's young kids watching this, probably quite often with their mothers; it just seems a bit rude that RTD wants to cram in "this is what mothers are really like" every week.
(Let them decide that for themselves! They probably will as soon as they hit their teens anyway.)
― a passing spacecadet, Friday, 9 May 2008 08:07 (sixteen years ago) link
The mum of the main child character in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' is another mum from hell, too.
― James Morrison, Friday, 9 May 2008 08:36 (sixteen years ago) link
Don't kids see that as escapism, though? I doubt there's a whole new generation of burgeoning mum-haters because of this show.
― Autumn Almanac, Friday, 9 May 2008 09:00 (sixteen years ago) link
Quite like to see the post-Rusty reboot do a series without a family, and without having to pop back to London in 2010 every few episodes. I'm sure the viewers won't run away and never return for lack of identification.
Although I generally think stories on Earth > stories on other planets > stories on fucking identikit industrial space stations with lots of high platforms and dry ice.
― Matt DC, Friday, 9 May 2008 09:08 (sixteen years ago) link
The high platforms and dry ice are getting ridiculous, yes.
Pulling away from earth and identifiable characters is just too great a risk to take for a show that relies on mass appeal in order to be made at all.
― Autumn Almanac, Friday, 9 May 2008 11:23 (sixteen years ago) link
Also I'd like to see some stories in modern-day Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Leeds etc.
― Autumn Almanac, Friday, 9 May 2008 11:24 (sixteen years ago) link
is this more of a problem now than it was in the 60s/70s/80s?
― blueski, Friday, 9 May 2008 11:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Surely the Angel of the North is going to come off its pedestal at some point?
They could get round the identifiable characters thing by having a larger entourage in the Tardis but yeah I see your point.
― Matt DC, Friday, 9 May 2008 11:33 (sixteen years ago) link
Dr Who is all about dry ice, especially where unit involved (good to see this last week). Quite frankly I'm always a little dissapointed when Dr Who doesn't look like this:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2246/1880122176_327d9c73ae.jpg
― Ed, Friday, 9 May 2008 12:18 (sixteen years ago) link
They could get round the identifiable characters thing by having a larger entourage in the Tardis
But this is an inherent problem with OOH DOCTOR I WUB YOU :SADEYES: bollocks. For all this might improve things (Mickey's one real trip, the kid from the Pompeii episode would have been a companion in any other era of the show) it can't be allowed to happen because it would fundamentally alter Rusty's will-they-won't-they dynamic.
Lizo on CBBC has given tomorrow night's episode the lowest rating of any NuWho and even a couple of the most severe Rusty boosters on some other forums have agreed it's the 'least good' NuWho yet.
― aldo, Friday, 9 May 2008 12:45 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh you'll like this - "Freema gives her first duff performance in this episode. There's a scene with her and a Hath in a bog with is worse than the cliffhanger in Dragonfire."
Both of those seem pretty unbelievable. And this came from someone who still kind of liked the episode.
― aldo, Friday, 9 May 2008 13:53 (sixteen years ago) link
Freema gives her first duff performance in this episode
OK, this person has no clue.
― ailsa, Friday, 9 May 2008 17:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, my point being if they thought the rest were good, and this was bad, how utterly terrible must it be?
― aldo, Friday, 9 May 2008 18:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh fuck. Please let this not be the case. I don't think I could handle another shit episode this year.
We both enjoyed this year's Torchwood far more than Doctor Who. (For perspective, we did not like Torchwood at all the first time round.)
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 10 May 2008 00:04 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm always wishing they'll pick up companions from other time periods, ie a Victorian adventuress, a pirate, an ancient Chinese scholar, whatever, rather than just modern-day folk. That's partly why companions like Jamie were groovy.
― James Morrison, Saturday, 10 May 2008 03:37 (sixteen years ago) link
wtf, here at karaoke bar. why the fuck are there _8_ billie piper tracks in the songbook?! she didn't have any singles that charted in america, did she?!
― kingfish, Saturday, 10 May 2008 06:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Here too.
― aldo, Saturday, 10 May 2008 09:19 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah.
Mothers' day tomorrow, so I won't see this one until the day after, and I could not care less.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 10 May 2008 10:53 (sixteen years ago) link
Mothers' day tomorrow
This scared me more than anything in Dr Who. Bloody Americans.
Would be quite good if in a future episode the Dr was put on trial for killing off the world's entire bird population. Aside from emus, peacocks and penguins.
Also hopefully we get to see young Bernard Cribbins in the 1960s/1950s at some point.
― James Mitchell, Saturday, 10 May 2008 11:31 (sixteen years ago) link
and I could not care less.
And the fact that this is your 49857689th post on a Dr Who tread makes that clear.
― DavidM, Saturday, 10 May 2008 12:43 (sixteen years ago) link
It's a contrast to the past few years of counting down the minutes each week.
(Mothers' day tomorrow)
Um, huh?
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 10 May 2008 12:57 (sixteen years ago) link
You made me think it was Mother's Day tomorrow. It isn't, at least not in the UK.
― James Mitchell, Saturday, 10 May 2008 12:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Britisher Mother's Day is in March, hence teh fearrrrr.
― suzy, Saturday, 10 May 2008 12:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh, well I'm not American, so there's my fear.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 10 May 2008 13:00 (sixteen years ago) link
(also teh fear that I have to see my mother tomorrow)
OH FFS
― Herman G. Neuname, Saturday, 10 May 2008 18:11 (sixteen years ago) link
I spy a spin off show
― Herman G. Neuname, Saturday, 10 May 2008 18:29 (sixteen years ago) link
I feel dirty.
That felt like eps 3 and 4 of an over-padded McCoy era story.
Looks like Rusty has found a new way to get Rose Tyler: Earth Defence made.
― aldo, Saturday, 10 May 2008 18:35 (sixteen years ago) link
I broke up with my girlfriend this afternoon, so I decided to just switch off my critical faculties and enjoy it, and you know what, it was just the ticket. Not ashamed to say I choked up a bit at the end considering the circumstances.
Slightly reminiscent of a Hartnell story, what with the traps and the mazes and the problem solving.
― chap, Saturday, 10 May 2008 18:35 (sixteen years ago) link
Slightly reminiscent of The Search For Spock at the end, I thought.
― James Mitchell, Saturday, 10 May 2008 18:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Horrendous dialogue aside, I actually enjoyed this. I don't know if my expectations were just low because of the reviews upthread.
Can someone explain how she was created though?
― limón, Saturday, 10 May 2008 18:43 (sixteen years ago) link
McCoy story, Hartnell story - funny it reminded me of a Davison era story. Sort of a (initially) inconsequential, cheapo runaround in someone else's boring war, which the Doc ends up ending. I started off not liking it, but I thawed a little by the end. The emo was ladelled on a bit thick, and I don't know why Martha was even in this really. But... yeah. Okay, in the end. Catherine Tate had all the best lines, and stole the show.
So. Is Jenny going to be (yet another) ally who is going to pop up every so often? In her rocket ship, at the end she reminded me of Chris Barrie's "smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast" chracter in Red Dwarf.
― DavidM, Saturday, 10 May 2008 19:43 (sixteen years ago) link
baker (t) stories also recalled - underworld, face of evil
― Alan, Saturday, 10 May 2008 20:48 (sixteen years ago) link
The Hath were pretty old school looking.
― chap, Saturday, 10 May 2008 20:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Very old school Who in both good and bad ways (the good being the proper sci-fi short storyness of the 7 day war - the bad being the "oh noes it is a pointless war). Jenny was nowhere near as annoying as she could have / should have been* and open ended enough for hand in box fun in a later series. Some terrible dialogue, Tate wins the day again and the real feel of a Baker four perter condensed into 45 mins (yay!). Hath were very plasticky but a really nice concept (except for their boiler suits).
I kinda liked it.
*When she regenerated at the end, for a second I thought she had turned into Billie which would have been an awesome WTF, even if it made no sense. She should have changed her face at least though.
― Pete, Sunday, 11 May 2008 00:55 (sixteen years ago) link
Her keeping the same face when she regenerated kinda didn't make sense.
Fucking nice face, mind you.
― chap, Sunday, 11 May 2008 01:42 (sixteen years ago) link
Someone on another board suggested that she didn't regenerate, but it was the terraforming gases that brought her back to life. Maybe the Hath that Martha dimwittedly got killed in the bog will emerge from the ground, good as new!
Before this season started, I read some old old interview with RTD where he talked about how much he hated guns and violence, which seemed like an OK-enough sentiment. But this new level of the Doctor going around yelling about how much he hates guns and violence just feels lazy.
― reddening, Sunday, 11 May 2008 01:52 (sixteen years ago) link
Definitely the worst nu-Doctor Who episode so far.
― musically, Sunday, 11 May 2008 06:30 (sixteen years ago) link
*When she regenerated at the end, for a second I thought she had turned into Billie which would have been an awesome WTF, even if it made no sense.
Yeah, that occurred to me as well.
What was with all the "I don't kill people, I don't do genocide" bollocks, btw? This is/was the "no second chances" doctor, right?
― ailsa, Sunday, 11 May 2008 08:29 (sixteen years ago) link
I started off not liking it, but I thawed a little by the end. The emo was ladelled on a bit thick, and I don't know why Martha was even in this really. But... yeah. Okay, in the end. Catherine Tate had all the best lines, and stole the show.
-- DavidM, Sunday, 11 May 2008 05:43 (15 hours ago) Bookmark Link
I'm with you on this.
Also, Agyeman's acting was fine considering she basically did monologues for half of it.
― Autumn Almanac, Sunday, 11 May 2008 11:11 (sixteen years ago) link
the writers make it very difficult for martha/freema - she was better last series i'm sure
jenny's resurrection seemed more in line with captain jack than the doctor.
― blueski, Sunday, 11 May 2008 11:28 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah I didn't really see the point of Martha being in this one, other than Freema Agyeman was contracted to appear in a certain number of episodes. Shame because the pace of this one felt a bit rushed, could have done with more space.
I was disappointed from the start that she wasn't the Doctor's original daughter/Susan's mother and I struggled to get over that diappointment and care much about what was happening for the rest of the episode. The Hath looked pretty cool though and Jenny = rowr. The ending was totally 'Oh HAI I HAS A SPINOFF' though but bringing Jenny to life just to kill her 45mins later seemed pointless as well. She might make a good companion in the future.
Despite the writers over-egging the pudding with the dialogue, that was probably Tennant's best 'gravitas' moment, but god I'm starting to hate that swelling sub-Celtic Moods orchestral theme that appears every time there's a scene of great emotional importance.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 11 May 2008 11:55 (sixteen years ago) link
The next episode looks awesome though, hope they ratchet up the creepy factor on this one.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 11 May 2008 11:57 (sixteen years ago) link
I thought that was pretty terrific. I couldn't really follow the plot, which was refreshing.
Cellular-free mobile phones are in danger of becoming the nu sonic screwdriver, though. I think they explained them working in the Tardis before, but now they seem to just work anywhere.
> but god I'm starting to hate that swelling sub-Celtic Moods orchestral > theme that appears every time there's a scene of great emotional > importance.
I was going to say. It really hit me during this episode how sad it is that a series with such a strong musical heritage should have descended into using the worst kind of mush. It's not just the emo scenes. Pretty much all the incidental music is ruinously bad.
And the Ood song in episode two could have been something truly eerie or moving but ended up just being comical. That was still my second favourite one so far this series, though, even if, as mentioned above, the canoodisation of the Doctor was somewhat nonsensical. Maybe I just like vaguely amphibous-looking aliens.
― Alba, Sunday, 11 May 2008 12:28 (sixteen years ago) link
Agatha Christie trailer did look good. First historical character one I've looked forward to.
― Alba, Sunday, 11 May 2008 12:29 (sixteen years ago) link
The ending was totally 'Oh HAI I HAS A SPINOFF'
Either that or, inspired by the Doctor being peaceful and teaching her to save the scary aliens, she goes and aligns herself with, say, dalek Caan or someone.
― limón, Sunday, 11 May 2008 18:31 (sixteen years ago) link
I always imagine Dalek Caan is related to James Caan somehow.
― chap, Sunday, 11 May 2008 19:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Caan? Caan! CAAAAAAAAaan!!
― Alan, Sunday, 11 May 2008 19:46 (sixteen years ago) link