Dr. Who - a show for the truly decrepit

[Warnersister]

Spoilers I've said it before and I'll say it again: Poor old TARDIS. She'll be pining for the Doctor by now - probably at least as much as he's pining for her. Some things don't change - I had to laugh at a line in one of the Seventh Doctor New Adventures:

Ace: The state the TARDIS is in now we'll be lucky to get where we want to anyway.
The Doctor: Don't listen to a word of it, old thing. They're only jealous of your place in my affections.

I do wonder what'll happen when the TARDIS dies. After all, she's at least a thousand years old by now...

As to this episode, loved Bolero, although I was thinking of Torville & Dean. I missed the opening bit before the credits and I didn't realise this was a two parter, so I was pleasantly surprised. Can't wait for the next part.

EDIT: I also loved the Doom sound effects! Watch out, something's coming, I hear the doors...

DW  

[Alleira]

[spoilers]So, the latest two-parter was a rollicking, space station action adventure - they certainly give us variety in this series! In the second half, it seemed that Rose is developing into a much stronger character, scared - yes, who wouldn't be - but quick-thinking and decisive, while the Doctor revealed a bit more of his feelings about her and his life in general. I enjoyed this, but had to see both parts before writing anything about it - the half-way stage just left me wanting to see the conclusion, but unable to really assess what I'd already seen. The Ood were rather sad creatures with telepathic powers, being used by an evil force, and were sacrificed in the end, causing regret to the Doctor. The special effects of the transformation of the young crewman into "the beast" were very good, and well handled - sinister rather than comic-book, which it might have become if done less well. And the monster in the pit was very effective indeed. Of course, we knew (didn't we?) that the Doctor would find his Tardis alive and well at the bottom of the pit, and use her to save the day - but the expression of sheer delight and surprise on his face when he literally backed up against his beloved machine was worth waiting for! Well done, BBC, another great episode![/spoilers]  

[Poppetta]

another great episode, and yes it was pretty obvious where the Tardis would end up, but that didn't detract from the enjoyablility of the tale 3nodding  

[Poppetta]

stressed i completely forgot about Dr.Who last night.

but i did read somewhere that billy Piper isn't doing another series..and she well leave this one in a spectacular manner... ninja  

[Nuala]

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[Warnersister]

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[Alleira]

[spoilers]I found this episode unbelievably tedious and boring. What utter drivel.

Peter Kay was out of place (I initially wrote "the Peter Kay character", then changed it, because he wasn't playing any character but his own); his alien was like something out of a shoddy pantomime; gross and unfunny. Actors (not that PK is an actor, which might explain a few things...) that I'm used to seeing in comedy can also tackle meatier parts - as we saw with the Cybermen's inventor and eventual Controller, whom I had only ever seen before in The Vicar of Dibley. I thought at first that I might not accept him in a serious role, but fortunately, he proved to be a real actor...

I quite like Danny from Hustle, and he tried hard at the thankless task of playing Elton, but it was grating and shallow, overall. I thought we were going somewhere interesting, with the flashbacks to the shop-window dummies episode, but the flashbacks kept coming, with no sign of either the Doctor or Rose actually in the current episode, and I eventually realised this was all we were getting. A random minor character dragged in to tell his story, which gradually centred around the most pathetic knock-off alien ever to be seen.

I am more sympathetic towards the characters of the Doctor and Rose, and thought they had developed over the last couple of episodes, but they didn't get a chance this time, because they weren't there until the end; a new concept: Doctor Who without the Doctor. It'll never catch on. There were some interesting interludes, like the LINDA group bonding and Jackie Tyler's character being developed a bit, but they were all too brief amidst the general PK-fest. The ending was ridiculous; that the Doctor, with his empathy for all races, and especially for humans, would believe that a human could be 'rescued' by being embedded in a paving stone for eternity? And that her vacuous, selfish boyfriend would let him do it?

I've only blanked this out in case there really is someone carefully not reading these comments, in order not to spoil their eventual personal viewing of the episodes - I'd prefer to put as many potential viewers as possible off seeing it at all. I'm just sorry that when they do get to watch it, it's going to be such a huge disappointment. If the series continues in this vein, David Tennant is set to be the last Doctor - ever. [/spoilers]  

[Poppetta]

well after reading the reviews of last weeks show i don't mind that i missed it.

this week's was back up to scratch though, and it would seem that Rose meets her possible demise next week so i imagine that will be the end of the series sad  

[Warnersister]

Vague spoilers, possibly:

A beautiful episode! Lurking menace under the suburban surface, the Doctor once again manages to park the TARDIS where it's almost impossible to get out ("Oy! 30 second penalty, Professor!") and some genuinely pretty scary ideas. Much better than last week's episodes. I liked the BBC commentator practically falling off air and I didn't notice any Torchwood refs in the episode itself. Some one liners that made me laugh out loud. Cracking stuff!


"I can't stress this enough: ball bearings you can eat - masterpiece!" I want to go make fairy cakes with edible ball bearings right now - that is such a blast from my childhood!!

DW  

[Alleira]

I missed the Olympics episode because of the World Cup (no, I wasn't watching it, they just didn't show the Friday night repeat of Doctor Who, in favour of a footie match stare ), but I saw this week's tonight. [spoilers]A very good first half of a two-parter to end the series, it was full of great stuff - Cybermen and Daleks, a mysterious sphere, Torchwood ninja and not least, a strong Mickey character who seems to have come into his own at last - he's not the metal dog equivalent any more! Delighted to see that the series is back on form for the final episodes. whee [/spoilers]  

[Nuala]

I've been out at LARP events for the last two weekends, so I'm going to have to play catch-up fairly quickly by the weekend. wink  

[Harbone]

Hey! I used to LARP back in college. What kinda LARP? I was a padded weapons and sock-flails person. I did that Vampire thing a couple times, too, but I learned to hate it in short order.

We never did a Dr. Who LARP, but it didn't seem to lend itself to the medium very well. Is there such a thing?

Notice how I carefully avoid mentioning Peter Kay? This may be because I have no idea who he is. Why is that? Many reasons. For instance, I haven't seen an airing of Blue Peter in almost 20 years (and it wasn't until a few years after that I realized I'd seen the BBC version of infotainment.)

So... LARP. Was it fun?  

[Lil Brat]

Just saw an ad on TV - Best Buy is now selling older episodes of the Dr... dvd bulk-style - lol  

[Harbone]

Really? How cheap?  

[Alleira]

biggrin Yay! BBC showed the episode I missed again - it was a good one, too, Fear Her, set around the 2012 Olympics.

show spoilerhide spoiler

I really liked the concept of the drawings sucking in real people and objects, and them still being alive in the drawing - I have imagined pictures coming to life within their frame (but not in a scary way, just nice images...) - but the thought of a drawing of anything at all having a life of its own - scary scribble, anybody? gonk The Doctor's explanation about the little spore that caused all the trouble and how millions (billions?) of them drifted through space together was beguiling, and pulled us back out of the cosy, familiar, suburban, Earthly streets into the Doctor's time-bending world again. Now I've seen all the episodes to date - can't wait for this weekend's final - but I also don't want it all to end... dramallama