The Dr Who thread

benedictw · Post by **benedictw** » Wed May 02, 2007 2:08 pm 0

Heres a question:

Just watched the first Veronica Mars episode - and that seemed to be very long compared with any random 'new' doctor who episodes. The Who episodes seem to be very 'short' in perceived time. Any ideas why?

Darkflame · Post by **Darkflame** » Wed May 02, 2007 2:09 pm 0

arron wrote:
HGFB wrote:
juice wrote:There also seems to be a tendancy towards plots involving "the doctor just so happens to be in the right place/time to save planet Earth from alien invasion - again", which is starting to get old, too. Can we get back to exploring the universe at some point, and getting involved with stuff which doesn't involve the end of the world?
Yeah. They've been pulling that stunt since 1963 and it's getting really tiresome.
Perhaps it's like Quantum Leap..there's a plan behind it all, but we don't know who or why yet?

I'm sure it was managed once that the Tardis tends to be attracted a bit of anomaly's. So while they may tell it to go to a rough date, unless they are specific it will tend towards any strange activity itself.

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Wed May 02, 2007 2:24 pm 0

benedictw wrote:Heres a question:

Just watched the first Veronica Mars episode - and that seemed to be very long compared with any random 'new' doctor who episodes. The Who episodes seem to be very 'short' in perceived time. Any ideas why?

MTV editting, innit? No shot longer than 30 secs, no scene longer than 3 minutes. The time just flies by for those of us with an attention span longer than the half-life of HE5

juice · Post by **juice** » Wed May 02, 2007 2:40 pm 0

HGFB wrote:
juice wrote:There also seems to be a tendancy towards plots involving "the doctor just so happens to be in the right place/time to save planet Earth from alien invasion - again", which is starting to get old, too. Can we get back to exploring the universe at some point, and getting involved with stuff which doesn't involve the end of the world?
Yeah. They've been pulling that stunt since 1963 and it's getting really tiresome.

I did wonder if someone'd pick up on that bit:)

I'll concede that Dr Who quite often involves "end of the world" plots, but it's got a bit ludicrous with the current series. So far, the Doctor has saved Humans + Planet Earth in 4 of the 5 stories (if you include Runaway Bride - and it could be said that Gridlock featured more of the same) of series 3. Series 2 had 5 out of 10, and series 1 had 6 out of 10.

By comparison (if my quick skimming of wikipedia is correct), McCoy had 3 out of 12 and Colin Baker got 2 of 11.

So, the fact that he keeps "randomly" turning up at the right place and time to save us poor humans is getting tiresome. I appreciate the need for "local interest" stories, but still!

So, it'd be nice if the good Doctor went out and saved the universe, or another planet, or a space station or just got involved in an adventure which doesn't feature potential genocide. If nothing else, it'd be a refreshing change

All plot summaries listed above are entirely arbitrary

Dio · Post by **Dio** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:23 pm 0

Jon Pertwee saved the Earth every episode for three or four years, though... from Roger Delgado about half the time.

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:24 pm 0

Yeah, but John Pertwee was shit

/me runs and hides from flamewar

Sir_LANs-a-lot · Post by **Sir_LANs-a-lot** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:30 pm 0

WiteWulf wrote:Yeah, but John Pertwee was shit

/me runs and hides from flamewar

Whereas McCoy was Oscar winning in his performance.

seibu · Post by **seibu** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:56 pm 0

Sir_LANs-a-lot wrote:
WiteWulf wrote:Yeah, but John Pertwee was shit

/me runs and hides from flamewar
Whereas McCoy was Oscar winning in his performance.

Ah, you know, what was so wrong with McCoy? he was no Tom Baker, but by his last series he was playing the Doctor with wit, subtlety and a fair degree of menace when the situation called for it. In my opinion, and I know it's controversial, he played a much more intriguing Doc than "Two Gears" Tennant is currently managing.

I personally think people remember McCoy badly because of the cheap production design and harsh studio lighting his stories had. The stories themselves and the performances were in some cases excellent.

Flabio · Post by **Flabio** » Wed May 02, 2007 3:58 pm 0

Two words:

Paradise Towers.

WiteWulf · Post by **WiteWulf** » Wed May 02, 2007 4:03 pm 0

Flabio wrote:Two words:

Paradise Towers.

That story did more harm to Who viewing figures than anything else in history, I think. Having said that, seibu is spot on in his appraisal of McCoy's portrayal. He was absolutely spot on towards the end of the run and for my mind was the only Dr to really nail the anger and darker side the Hartnell had Back In The Day.

juice · Post by **juice** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:06 pm 0

Flabio wrote:Two words:

Paradise Towers.

Mmm. I do vaguely remember seeing this first time around, and the memory ain't a good one.

The description on Wikipedia doesn't sound that bad though - shades of Judge Dredd and Megacity One towerblocks, though the article doesn't mention it as an influence.

I guess it's the difference between the idea and the execution - certainly "abandoned futuristic towerblock filled with cannibal grannies and crazed juve gangs all under attack from mysterious robots" seems much more interesting than "farting, fat green aliens attempt to take over 10 Downing Street", for instance

Flabio · Post by **Flabio** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:08 pm 0

It has Bonnie Langford failing to be eaten by a giant yellow plastic crab thing.

Sir_LANs-a-lot · Post by **Sir_LANs-a-lot** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:09 pm 0

Flabio wrote:It has Bonnie Langford failing to be eaten by a giant yellow plastic crab thing.

Because she attacked it's weak spot for MASSIVE DAMAGE!

Post by **Jedburgh** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:09 pm 0

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Cunts.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:21 pm 0

Oh for fucks sake. It was an episode I was really looking forward to.