The Dr Who thread

Post by **Jedburgh** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:12 pm 0

I was surprised that the workman really was a council workman and not a Torchwood operative. It was a bit disappointing when his van turned out to contain a pickaxe.

Ollie · Post by **Ollie** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:13 pm 0

Harlequin wrote:[It's live telly. The presenters have to find something to talk about

Are you seriously suggesting that the unexplained disappearance of a stadium full of people wouldn't give them enough to talk about? I can't imagine that the opening ceremony would be going ahead as planned under such circumstances. It was just sloppy writing, imo.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:23 pm 0

I've got a leaked preview shot of the start of the christmas special. The Scarborough Invasion

Looks like the Doctor was wrong about people not noticing the Tardis. It also looks like he's broken the chameleon circuit even more

Harlequin · Post by **Harlequin** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:35 pm 0

HGFB wrote:Two jokes I really liked. Rose feeling the need to point out that it wasn't a council spaceship and the Doctor being obsessed with edible ball bearings

You didn't like the TARDIS door gag?

Ollie wrote:
Harlequin wrote:It's live telly. The presenters have to find something to talk about
Are you seriously suggesting that the unexplained disappearance of a stadium full of people wouldn't give them enough to talk about? I can't imagine that the opening ceremony would be going ahead as planned under such circumstances. It was just sloppy writing, imo.

We heard them going on about the disappearance for some time but after that what more could they add other than speculation? If the torchbearer was still running then they'd surely at least cut to comment on his progress now and then. Remember how the media struggles to fill airtime after surprise terrorist attacks?

And this is telly Sci-Fi, not serious social drama (or even SF). Relax and enjoy

H.
_________________
"It is my firm belief that it is a mistake to hold firm beliefs"
[Malaclypse the Younger, K.S.C. -- "Principia Discordia"]

Jac · Post by **Jac** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:36 pm 0

Harlequin wrote: This was the story in which they finally did the TARDIS door gag and also played upon my personal phobia about reality distortions involving dimensional reduction. I suppose that most of you wouldn't understand how freaked out I was by the attack of the scribble

Dunno, I was pretty freaked out. But then I have owned copies of Marianne Dreams (& the sequel Marianne And Mark) for twenty years or so, and Paperhouse for fifteen. This was nothing by comparison.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:37 pm 0

Harlequin wrote:
HGFB wrote:Two jokes I really liked. Rose feeling the need to point out that it wasn't a council spaceship and the Doctor being obsessed with edible ball bearings
You didn't like the TARDIS door gag?

Of course. I just forgot about it

grue · Post by **grue** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:35 pm 0

I loved this episode

Also in the next weeks demo I think I saw:

The Doctor carrying a Dalek's sucker -proped against his shoulder- some time a bit before the end.

It looks lush though.

offyoutoddle · Post by **offyoutoddle** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:42 pm 0

Jac wrote:
Dunno, I was pretty freaked out. But then I have owned copies of Marianne Dreams (& the sequel Marianne And Mark) for twenty years or so, and Paperhouse for fifteen. This was nothing by comparison.

I remember a film called Paperhouse years ago, about a girl and her drawings -with Ben Cross. I'm guessing that's the same one - Really liked that film!

grue · Post by **grue** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:45 pm 0

offyoutoddle wrote:
Jac wrote:
Dunno, I was pretty freaked out. But then I have owned copies of Marianne Dreams (& the sequel Marianne And Mark) for twenty years or so, and Paperhouse for fifteen. This was nothing by comparison.

I remember a film called Paperhouse years ago, about a girl and her drawings -with Ben Cross. I'm guessing that's the same one - Really liked that film!

You two should also watch Mirrormask then.

Bog · Post by **Bog** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:48 pm 0

Hum.

Just watched this weeks. I can't help but get the feeling that two weeks running now, they've been trying to write children's telly. Arguably, Dr. Who is children's telly. But you'd lose the argument with me, because the best Dr. Who has always had a strong theme, good acting and thumping dialogue which, in my arrogant opinion, has been conspicuously absent this last fortnight. I felt that the moment they'd really started to learn to write for Tennant (as opposed to writing kind for Tennant but still mainly for Ecclestone), they tried for a sea-change and it went tango-uniform.

*shrugs*

I can see where they were trying to go, I s'pose, but crap acting, thin themes and ideals, and over-cheesing the Torch of Love (dear Gh0d, I'd expect it from Days of Our Lives, but not Dr. Who) just left me cold.

Speaking from the perspective of a specialist in CGI, I'm well aware of how crap digital visual effects can undermine an otherwise solid production. Even a silver-sprayed egg-box can look better than rushed, crappy CGI - but I'm starting to think that the Who writers have gotten so reliant on having The Mill at their fingertips that when they have to save up their effects budget for a couple of weeks to do a Big Powerful Thing... they don't know where to put themselves.

I really, really hope they don't fall into the trap of the CGI Boom-Bust Cycle, where the effects-light episodes are hasty dash-offs and pan-scraping plots that fill in for rendering time. Dr. Who is better than that - as long as they write Dr. Who, rather than relying on War Extravaganzas and Spectacular Mini Movies.

Sir_LANs-a-lot · Post by **Sir_LANs-a-lot** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:52 pm 0

Series is coming to an end so they're no doubt putting the bottom-of-the-barrel scripts here ready to make next weeks look much better (which incidentally, it does).

offyoutoddle · Post by **offyoutoddle** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:54 pm 0

Sir_LANs-a-lot wrote:Series is coming to an end so they're no doubt putting the bottom-of-the-barrel scripts here ready to make next weeks look much better (which incidentally, it does).

crikey that's gone quick - is it nearly the end already? They need to put more episodes in a series.

Flabio · Post by **Flabio** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:55 pm 0

I think I read somewhere that 'Fear Her' was a late choice because Stephen Fry was late delivering his script. His is in season 3 now.

HGFB · Post by **HGFB** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:55 pm 0

2 episodes left now.

offyoutoddle · Post by **offyoutoddle** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:57 pm 0

HGFB wrote:2 episodes left now.

That has just put me in a very glum mood.