Haven't seen a single episode of Doctor Who..

Doctor DooM

RTD's excesses start to catch up with him in S4.


Don't worry there's a Moffat 2 parter and some good RTD coming up.

Basq

Yeah, am working through this series slowly.. and it's definitely the weakest!

'The Doctor's Daughter' was just downright silly.. and all over the place, with an ending that you could see coming 5 minutes into the episode! The Doctor's daughter was very cute though.

'The Unicorn And The Wasp' had some good ideas - but contained too many coy jabs at literature, the time period and the whole "whodunnit" scenario that I wasn't sure how much of it I should take seriously. It was different and not the norm.. but suggesting Agatha Christine will be the world's best-selling author in 5 billion years? I didn't know whether to laugh, or be slightly insulted at the writing!

But there was a light at the end of the tunnel - the glorious Moffat 2 parter 'Silence In The Library' / 'Forest Of The Dead'. I think this might be one of my favourite episodes so far (alongside 'Blink'). This had a lot going for it:

- Alex Kingston and Steve Pemberton were both great in it.
- The "monster's" were genuinely quite unsettling.
- The scene with Miss Evangelista dying was superbly managed (especially given we had such a brief and fleeting introduction to her).
- The Doctor's interactions with River Song felt so natural and believable.. a credit to Tennant's and Kingston's performances.
- River's narration over the closing scenes and the Doctor realising he could open and close the Tardis by snapping his fingers just felt perfect!

Unlike most episodes in Season 4 so far, Moffat does tend to deliver A+ material. And I think I read this episode aired mere days after he was announced as lead-writer / showrunner for season 5, what a better way to cement his place on the throne!

Season 5 is looking ever more enticing.

And now, onto 'Midnight'!

monkeyfudge

Midnight is great.. although if I recall it had it's detractors on the forum here.

But it really shows what RTD is capable of if he actually tones it the f*ck down!

Doctor DooM

Both Midnight and Turn Left mean I begrudgingly can't say Moffat wrote the best eposide in S4. Seriously it's like RTD just turned into a different writer!

Midnight had alot of detractors but they're just wrong. I know it's the done thing to slag RTD but they're wrong.

The only thing which spoils either of them is the crappy monster in Turn Left.

Anyway, before you get to Series 5 you have to watch the specials and...

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Water of Mars is kinda... good... ish? And Michelle Ryan is world class hot.

DooM continuity note: Before watching the specials I would suggest watching Torchwood: Children of Earth. It's 5 hours long, good TV and there's a moment at the end of the specials which will have alot more meaning after it.

Basq

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Anyway, before you get to Series 5 you have to watch the specials and...

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Water of Mars is kinda... good... ish? And Michelle Ryan is world class hot.

Yeah.. she is! Nyum!

Doctor DooM wrote: »

DooM continuity note: Before watching the specials I would suggest watching Torchwood: Children of Earth. It's 5 hours long, good TV and there's a moment at the end of the specials which will have alot more meaning after it.

I've heard great things about 'Children of Earth' but will it matter than I haven't seen any Torchwood up until it? Is it a self-contained story? I planned on getting through 'Who' and then watching 'Torchwood'. I know it ruins continuity and all though!

ixoy

basquille wrote: »

I've heard great things about 'Children of Earth' but will it matter than I haven't seen any Torchwood up until it? Is it a self-contained story? I planned on getting through 'Who' and then watching 'Torchwood'. I know it ruins continuity and all though!

Story is self contained but from a character point-of-view you'd be losing out a fair bit as you won't understand how they got to where they were in their relationships.

Basq

Hmmm.. dilemma, dilemma!

monkeyfudge

The Sarah Jane Adventures episode 'Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?' ties in with Turn Left as well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whatever_Happened_to_Sarah_Jane%3F

Doctor DooM

We could write you a little catch up thingame if you like.

Just, Torchwood S1 is pretty bad, S2 is all right, but CoE deserves a watch, and if you care about the character of Jack you need to watch it. It's got a couple of big moments for him. If you don't like Jack, then yeah, don't bother.

Also before watching "The end of time" you should watch the Sarah Jane Adventures episode "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith". It's pretty much an episode of Doctor Who anyways.

Basq

Girlfriend is going away for 2 weeks tomorrow.. and spotted seasons 1 - 2 on special in my local HMV. So might even catch up with Torchwood in the mean-time before the specials.

Not too sure if I'll manage the same for 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' but I'll certainly watch the 2 mentioned.

ixoy

basquille wrote: »

Not too sure if I'll manage the same for 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' but I'll certainly watch the 2 mentioned.

Sarah-Jane Adventures is closer, in some ways, to old skool "Doctor Who" than the RTD era managed. It even has more references to it. It's got a good spirit of adventure and is quite intelligent at times. Doesn't reach the peaks of DW but doesn't reach its lows either. I rather like it.

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

Girlfriend is going away for 2 weeks tomorrow.. and spotted seasons 1 - 2 on special in my local HMV. So might even catch up with Torchwood in the mean-time before the specials.

Not too sure if I'll manage the same for 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' but I'll certainly watch the 2 mentioned.

Ok but don't blame me when you watch cyberwoman

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

people like captain jack as a character?

in a ground breaking finally have a gay companion sort of way, or actually on merit?

Basq

I liked Jack in his initial appearances..

.. but I found his appearance towards the end of season 3 incredibly jarring.

He actually appear to bounce around the screen like a cartoon character.

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

I liked Jack in his initial appearances..

.. but I found his appearance towards the end of season 3 incredibly jarring.

He actually appear to bounce around the screen like a cartoon character.

I recall hearing on podshock that was deliberate as he was supposed to mentally go to some dark places during the torchwood years and needed the Doctor to "fix" him. He'd been searching for him for hundreds of years and just being in his presence apparently encouraged him to "try and be a better person" type of thing.

Doctor DooM

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

people like captain jack as a character?

in a ground breaking finally have a gay companion sort of way, or actually on merit?

ALOT of characters in new who swing every way (to the point of shoehorning it in tbh) but I think initially people just liked Jack because he was funny and ironically the closest new who had to an action straight man.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

I think Torchwood season 1 and 2 had some fantastic episodes... Fair enough, a lot of them were mediocre and some were just awful, but I still reckon they're worth the watch...
Also, it means you know more about the backgrounds of the characters when you watch Children of Earth - dunno if the story will be as effective if you're not familiar with the characters... There's a fantastic story-arc in CoE, but there's also some great character plots, that I'd imagine are only truly brilliant for people who've seen the show from the beginning... Just my opinion of course...
I don't think you really need to see Torchwood before the specials anyway - its one minor nod to Torchwood in those specials...

Stark

I liked Captain Jack when he first appeared on Doctor Who. He was a "fun" character. Unfortunately, that wore out fairly quickly and the attempts to add substance to the character in "Torchwood" just felt forced and the result was the character just moped around a lot.

Torchwood season 1 was generally juvenile and dreadful though it did have some gems like "Small Worlds" and "Captain Jack Harkness". Season 2 was far more consistent and mature.

Basq

OK.. so I'm now done with the Tennant era!

I didn't go near any 'Torchwood' or 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' (apologies DD). But time for individual episode reviews:

'Midnight' was an episode that had a fantastically written and played out opening half hour. And then the last 10 minutes just kinda left me kinda bit cold - think it was the fact that nothing really was explained. But in saying that - I enjoyed it!

'Turn Left' was a damn fine episode that was made even better by a damn fine performance by Catherine Tate. My only negative was the "beetle" on the back looked incredibly silly and I didn't care much for Piper in the episode.

I did think 'The Stolen Earth / Journey's End' was a mixed bag - 'The Stolen Earth' I absolutely loved. It was great seeing all the supporting characters back again (everyone from Jackie Tyler to Martha Jones to Sarah Jane Smith.. and I did enjoy Piper's appearance in this) while 'Journey's End' was hugely disappointing (this three-fold Doctor scenario while felt like it existed only to give Rose's character a happy ending). But I did find Donna's end as a companion quite depressing!

Oh my.. and now onto the specials..

'The New Doctor' just was an hour-long piss-take / parody.. and I like David Morrissey but even I thought he was a bit wasted in this.

'The Dead Planet' wasn't a whole lot better.. and as it featured Lee Evans, I was close to turning this off. But Michelle Ryan kept me watching, despite me grimacing at the ending of her flying off in the bus. Ridiculous!

'The Waters of Mars' was by far the best of the bunch. It really felt odd among the specials that went before it, as the closing 20 minutes were superb. Tense, nerve-wreaking and un-nerving. And I did the make-up / prosthetics on the "infected" was some of the finest I've seen in Who. Genuinely very creepy!



I quite liked 'The End Of Time' overall but I did have problems with it. There was a lot of filler in there!

Firstly, John Simm was much better as 'The Master' in this.. the scene with all The Master clones in the press-room of the White House was quite comical. Yes, it was ludicruous and silly, but it was good fun!

Secondly and more importantly, Bernard Cribbins and David Tennant were absolutely incredible in this episode. The scene when they're talking on the Vinvocci ship, the scene with Wilfred waving goodbye to him as Donna's funeral with tears in his eyes and of course, the sacrifice of the Doctor to save Wilfred - the only problem was I kinda see what was coming when Wilfred ran into the chamber. Still, I loved that the "four knocks" was something as simple as Wilfred tapping on the glass to be let out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX7ZILi_oTc

Just a real tour-de-force of a performance from both.

What I didn't like was how quickly the "Time Lords" and Timothy Dalton's character was wrapped up and discarded. I kinda wanted a bit more on that!

I have to say but I had a real lump in my throat leading up the re-generation / "Tennant's end" - Tennant clearly loved that role and his final words being "I don't wanna go!" made it just even that more poignant!

Matt Smith has some big fecking shoes to fill!

While we're on the subject, I loathed Matt Smith's introduction ("I'm a girl?!").. but it was just that - an introduction. I know I'll warm to him as the 5th season goes on.

And onto season 5!

Basq

A minute and a half into 5x01..

.. what have they done to the theme tune?!?! :mad:

I remember catching the start of 'The Lodger' and hearing the theme tune.. but I didn't think it sounded that different. It's fecking dreadful!

/fairly minor quibble aside

ixoy

Well I'm never forgiving RTD for how he screwed over the Time Lords in "End of Time". I also thought "Stolen Earth/Journey's End" was self-indulgent bollocks but at least you liked it!

Now Matt Smith's era on the other hand - I really liked so I believe you're in for a treat! The theme tune even grew on me after a bit.

CluelessGirl

What's it all about anyway?

Banjo Fella

CluelessGirl wrote: »

What's it all about anyway?

It's about an eccentric 907 year old Time Lord from Gallifrey who once stole a time-travelling machine and never looked back! He goes on exciting adventures in time and space, visiting all manner of peoples and planets and solving whatever problems he finds. Hence his title; the Doctor! But Doctor who, exactly? He's a mysterious figure and nobody seems to know his real name; hence the name of the show. He often befriends people he's met on his travels, and usually brings them along with him. Recently he's taken to wearing fezes, eating fish custard and dancing like a sedated giraffe!

Doctor DooM

CluelessGirl wrote: »

What's it all about anyway?

a madman in a box.

Raphael

basquille wrote: »

A minute and a half into 5x01..

.. what have they done to the theme tune?!?! :mad:

I remember catching the start of 'The Lodger' and hearing the theme tune.. but I didn't think it sounded that different. It's fecking dreadful!

/fairly minor quibble aside

It really does grow on you. Hated it to start with, but I don't even notice these days.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

basquille wrote: »

A minute and a half into 5x01..

.. what have they done to the theme tune?!?! :mad:

I remember catching the start of 'The Lodger' and hearing the theme tune.. but I didn't think it sounded that different. It's fecking dreadful!

/fairly minor quibble aside

You get used to the theme tune - I actually prefer it the way it is now, as I've gotten used to it...
What did you think of The Eleventh Hour anyway? More importanly - your thoughts on Smith and Gillan?

GSPfan

Having read this thread from start to finish I'm excited to see what you think of Matt Smith. I've pretty much agreed with your opinions of each episode so far. I love Matt Smith's Doctor tho. I wouldn't swap him for anyone now.

Basq

I have to admit I'm only two episodes into the season, but it could be the best yet.

Matt Smith is absolutely superb in the role.. he brings some much needed comedy to the role. The scene where he first meets Amy (or Amelia) as a child where he's trying various different foods was possibly a bit slapstick for some, but it was needed "to break the ice" of a new very different Doctor. What I like about Smith is anyone else would have looked at Tennant's Who and emulated it. Smith is putting a completely different spin on the character and is very fun to watch - he's hyperactive, comical and really more than I could have hoped for. I can imagine people's worry after his "lacklustre" introduction at 'The End Of Time' - he really has impressed me so far!

Gillan is just gorgeous. Not seen a whole lot for her to really test her acting muscles, and it's tough to really gauge her when Smith is on screen as he does really grab some attention and keep it.

'The Eleventh Hour' was definitely one of the show's strongest season openers. My favourite scene of the opener was the Doctor on the rooftop where he stands up to the Atraxi and there's the hologram / vision of all the past Doctor's with Smith stepping through after Tennant. Really great stuff!

'The Beast Below' was an interesting one as well. There was a bit of everything in there - many political points with an interesting relationship developing between The Doctor and Amy and a damn strong written episode by Moffat once again.

I think I'm really gonna enjoy this season!

Doctor DooM

It gets better.


ALOT better.

Still, 1 stinker... victory of the daleks.

Basq

Doctor DooM wrote: »

ALOT better.

Still, 1 stinker... victory of the daleks.

That's next alright..

.. it'll complement the stinkers of 'Daleks In Manhattan' / 'Evolution of The Daleks" perfectly so!