The Dr Who thread

[Harlequin]

6.66 million viewers tuned into the episode

666?
[...]
Peter Kay really let the side down (IMO) [...]

In what way? His only adlib, that I'm aware of, was the 'exzema' gag. Was it the accent that he didn't want to do but was talked into by the director?

Just something that I've been thinking about recently: why shouldn't aliens have Northern accents? There was one in every single episode last year Should all British accents held by baddies be confined to South-East England and preferably to clipped RP as in the US? That seems a rather parochial attitude to me and therefore, in itself, rather un-Who

[...] it's a stack better than some of the old Who episodes I remember watching as a kid. I think sometimes the ol' rose-tinted specs come out when some Who fans talk about the old show. It had its fair share of misfires, and in the light of that - and remembering how good the new show is when it wants to be - I find it easy to forgive these occasional lapses from excellence into mere gooditude...

I've been thinking that the glasses of many 'old school' Abzorbaloffs (especially, it seems, on Outpost Gallifrey) are tinted with the excitement and vibrancy of youth. I wonder how long ago they last watched a non-seventies serial (or, contrariwise, one from the final two McCoy seasons).

The two-part finale should be a shocker, though...

Oh, yes

H. (still thinking of bitter pills for some reason)
_________________
"Everything will come to you in email if you wait long enough. Most of it will come to you twice".
[Roxann Ireland]

[[Feeblez]]

Me again.

Peter Kay was really good in Love & Monsters, and seeing him run down the street as the Abzorbaloff was hilarious. (IMO)

Maybe a shrewd move following L&M with Fear Her, the way it split everyone, and for once i disagree with Snakey who is usually spot on.

[Snakey]

I think sometimes the ol' rose-tinted specs come out when some Who fans talk about the old show.

...except I don't think anyone here is actually doing that.

So to set the record straight - the last few years of 'old who' were complete and utter shite. That better?

What we're comparing this stuff against is the last series, which was almost uniformly excellent.

[HippyDave]

I think sometimes the ol' rose-tinted specs come out when some Who fans talk about the old show.

...except I don't think anyone here is actually doing that.

So to set the record straight - the last few years of 'old who' were complete and utter shite. That better?

What we're comparing this stuff against is the last series, which was almost uniformly excellent.

Aye, that's fair enough (and I'd agree; I don't think this year is as solid as last year was - not Tennant's fault, because by and large I think he's doing a grand job)...

When I made the "rose-tinted specs" comment I was talking about Whovians all over the shop, not just here. But yes, that's better... I do remember some stinkers right back as far as the Baker years, though. Gimme long enough with an episode guide and I'll find 'em, too!

[HippyDave]

Peter Kay really let the side down (IMO) [...]

In what way? His only adlib, that I'm aware of, was the 'exzema' gag. Was it the accent that he didn't want to do but was talked into by the director?

Just something that I've been thinking about recently: why shouldn't aliens have Northern accents? There was one in every single episode last year Should all British accents held by baddies be confined to South-East England and preferably to clipped RP as in the US? That seems a rather parochial attitude to me and therefore, in itself, rather un-Who

Oh, it wasn't the accent - that just made the Abzorbaloff more ridiculous, which I'm sure was entirely intentional... I just don't think he was that funny, which surely is why he was cast in the first place? I think they ought to have given the role to Johnny Vegas, meself...

[HGFB]

For me I generally feel that series 1 was a stronger series than series 2. It had more standout moments and quotable dialogue (Always a plus point for getting people interested).

It could also have something to do with the fact that we hadn't had Doctor Who for 16 years and then back it comes on fine form. Imagine a man who hasn't had a bacon sandwich for 16 years. The someone comes along and gives him a fantastic (pun intended) bacon sandwich. Then more and more and more. He's loving these bacon sandwiches. Then after a short break he gets more bacon sandwiches but with a different brand of bacon. It's still a good bacon sandwich. An excellent bacon sandwich. There's just two problems. First. It tastes different. They've even forgotten to put the HP sauce on (Jack obviously ). Secondly. Well we've been eating bacon sandwiches for a while now and they're not as fresh or new anymore.

Crap analogy I know I know some of you don't much like Tennant either That's understandable. He's a very different Doc than Eccleston was and I agree that it's shame he felt he had to leave. Perhaps a nice Torchwood sausage sandwich or a BSG bagel in October will sort you out

Me? I want to see how Tennant reacts when facing a Dalek or 3(thousand). That'd show us what sort of Doc he is Also remember that series 2 and 3 got comishioned very close to each other allowing the production team to plot a story arc that runs across 2 series and 2 christmas specials. Should be interesting to see where they take the message from the Face of Boe. Could it be "You are not alone"?

I am Bad HGFB. I create myself. I take the Hoff and scatter him through time.

[Snakey]

It's still a good bacon sandwich. An excellent bacon sandwich.

Well, apart from you being a bastard because you know I can't get a decent bacon sandwich, I'd agree with that if you'd said "it's still an OK bacon sandwich" If this series had been "excellent" I wouldn't care if it wasn't as good as the last one, after all...

Me? I want to see how Tennant reacts when facing a Dalek or 3(thousand)

Well we already know that. He'll tell them they're beautiful, the TARDIS will explode, and then he'll bugger off and let Rose sort everything out

I am Bad HGFB. I create myself. I take the Hoff and scatter him through time.

Been a distinct Hoff lackage lately, actually.

[Dio]

Me? I want to see how Tennant reacts when facing a Dalek or 3(thousand)

Well we already know that. He'll tell them they're beautiful, the TARDIS will explode, and then he'll bugger off and let Rose sort everything out

[HGFB]

I'm eating a bacon sandwich now. It's fantastic and beautiful all at the same time. Rose isn't getting a bite though

[Harlequin]

Peter Kay really let the side down (IMO) [...]

In what way? His only adlib, that I'm aware of, was the 'exzema' gag. Was it the accent that he didn't want to do but was talked into by the director?
[...]

Oh, it wasn't the accent - that just made the Abzorbaloff more ridiculous, which I'm sure was entirely intentional... I just don't think he was that funny, which surely is why he was cast in the first place? I think they ought to have given the role to Johnny Vegas, meself...

I think that he got the part because he's an actor (not just a comedian) who dearly wanted to be in the show

[...]Imagine a man who hasn't had a bacon sandwich for 16 years. The someone comes along and gives him a fantastic (pun intended) bacon sandwich. Then more and more and more. He's loving these bacon sandwiches. Then after a short break he gets more bacon sandwiches but with a different brand of bacon. It's still a good bacon sandwich. An excellent bacon sandwich.

A beautiful bacon sandwich, shurely

[...] Perhaps a nice Torchwood sausage sandwich [...] will sort you out

Stoppit! I've got to go out and you're making it difficult to put my trousers on!

[...] Also remember that series 2 and 3 got comishioned very close to each other allowing the production team to plot a story arc that runs across 2 series and 2 christmas specials. Should be interesting to see where they take the message from the Face of Boe. Could it be "You are not alone"?

I do get the feeling that, after Eccleston's unseen backstory of despair last year, they might be providing us with Tennant's equivalent over these two seasons before our eyes. If so, this season has been more about building up something that will soon be destroyed.

I'm eating a bacon sandwich now. It's fantastic and beautiful all at the same time. Rose isn't getting a bite though

But why are you holding it to that paving slab under your desk?

H.
_________________
"A little learning is a dangerous thing
But one may also drown in the Pierian spring."
[Harlequin, after Pope]

[HippyDave]

I think that [Peter Kay] got the part because he's an actor (not just a comedian) who dearly wanted to be in the show

Maybe, maybe - but I suspect that he was a shoe-in for the part purely because it was a comedic role and that's what he's best known for. I'm sure he did the best with what he was handed, but let's face it, that wasn't an awful lot.

[...]Imagine a man who hasn't had a bacon sandwich for 16 years. The someone comes along and gives him a fantastic (pun intended) bacon sandwich. Then more and more and more. He's loving these bacon sandwiches. Then after a short break he gets more bacon sandwiches but with a different brand of bacon. It's still a good bacon sandwich. An excellent bacon sandwich.

Now that is a perfect analogy. Well said, sir, and I completely agree.

[...] Also remember that series 2 and 3 got comishioned very close to each other allowing the production team to plot a story arc that runs across 2 series and 2 christmas specials. Should be interesting to see where they take the message from the Face of Boe. Could it be "You are not alone"?

I wouldn't be at all surprised - surely the 'extinction' of the Time Lords is just a great plotline waiting to happen. Especially as we have recently reminded about parallel universes, and that it is possible (however difficult/unlikely) to jump between them?

I'm eating a bacon sandwich now. It's fantastic and beautiful all at the same time. Rose isn't getting a bite though

But why are you holding it to that paving slab under your desk?

[Purple Grapefruit]

I'm eating a bacon sandwich now. It's fantastic and beautiful all at the same time. Rose isn't getting a bite though

Unusual post.
I shall ruminate later about this, until i reach a satisfying conclusion.



I think the new dr who is brilliant (season 1 AND 2).

I was cynical when i heard that dr who was to be re-launched.
The reason? So many times i have seen what i liked, in younger years,
raped and then shat out as "popular entertainment".The remake of the "Italian job" to me is the definitive example of whoring shite.

So i just wanted to put more of a positive perspective on the new dr who.
Really, it could of been far, far, far, worse..........

[sponge]

I'm way behind everybody here watching it. I've just got the first 4 DVDs.

My only gripes are:

1) Too much shitty, poorly executed CG, not enough shitty and poorly executed rubber masks.
2) The half-arsed social commentary in some plotlines gets on me tits a bit.
3) No cliff hangers. I miss hearing the scary music come in at the end of an episode while the Doctor is in peril.


Oh, and

4) Rose looks like a fucking gerbil.


Other than that, I'm enjoying it. It's pretty good. It's certainly in the right spirit, at least. Some nice sets, nice (poor!) acting and nice vibe.



Still much better than Yanky sci fi tosh.

[Bog]

*snorts laughter*

Sponge, I was over at a mate's place (another 3D kid) for the weekend after the Cybermen one, and we were lamenting now the stabby slicey things in the Cybermen conversion sequences were, frankly, shit. Better to do without - or fuck it, just comp in the Strogg medical facility scene from Quake 4 - then have Utterly Unconvincing CG.

Thing is, we know The Mill can do decent stuff, despite their addiction to silly software. So when it's crap, it stands out like a sore frelling thumb.

I think my main 'plaint with this season of Who - standing entirely beside HGFB's brilliant bacon sarnie analogy - is that they've tried to make it Light. Except for the Cybermen ep, there's no gravitas.

Tom Baker was my first Doctor. He had this knack of just quietly owning everything. Not in the Counterstrike sense of pwnage, ick, but in the sense that he brough a genteel, unhurried "Whereever I am is where I am meant to be" feeling to the series.

Ecclestone had that as well. Even in the quickfire "What are these aliens?" round when he was IDing the Slitheen, he had Presence. Tennant has yet to really bring that, except briefly in the Wire episode. ("Nothing on this earth...")

Hell, even one of Ecclestone's first lines: "...and probably die in the attempt. Well, here we go! Run!" or something like that was steeped in his very literal Appropriateness In Presence. It's what I try to put on when I walk into a new client's building for the first time: Not only do I have a right to be here, but I am meant to be here, so don't even think about asking me who I am or what I'm doing because you don't need to. See how very here I am.

Don't get me wrong. I like Tennant. To be honest, though... Ecclestone and Piper worked well. Very well. But Tennant and Piper is just... wrong. With an airy and touristy Doctor like Tennant's (more akin to Troughton's doctor, really, with his whimsical attachment to his "flute", and his disconnected but rapier presence), then the companion needs to be ... well... not. Rose was always mainly tagging along ... with the persona they've build for her, she just is too forward - but in too Normal a manner - to really strike up the real chemistry.

That said, to actually be thinking in such detail - and doubtless getting so many people murmering "Bog, you're fullashit", I must love it

Next week. Well. Day after tomo... *glances at clock* Tomorrow we find out, eh? That's going to be a good one. Or a bloody awful one. Either way, I can pretty much guarantee a lot of talk on it.

Smashing, Dr. Who. It gives me a slender but nonzero chance of striking up a conversation with a complete stranger over something I care about on a train or something.

[DutchLlama]

When I was in the UK last May I passed a town called Eccleston in Cheshire.

That is the one, select: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oi=eu_map ... ston&hl=nl

For some funny reason this didn't register until I read Bog's post above.

Does Christopher Eccleston come from that Eccleston? It's up the north but not in Scotland.

According to Google there is one in Lancashire as well.