Doctor Who Season 4 (1 Viewer)

[Tony J Case]

On behalf of the BBC and Doctor Who fans around the world, let me give Americans my heartfelt condolences for the utter butchering that the Sci-Fi channel gave to the last 10 minutes of the Fires of Pompeii. They totally removed the heart of the episode and all of the good bits.

A pox on you, SFC, a pox on thee!

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Are you surprised by it?

There's a reason that a few of us Yanks are watching the Brit version.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yes if I had to rely on SciFi I'd wait for the DVD's

 

[RickER]

It holds me over, but only just. I can barley watch a show on TV with all the edits, commercials, and damn, stinkin pop-up ads.

Dr. Who, and Galactica are the only shows i watch on regular TV.

 

[Stephen Orr]

Re: The Sontaran two parter (BCC the past two Saturdays). Again, it seems that those who are not invested in old Who have a better time with the series enjoying the show through fresh eyes.

The little potato-head soldiers have nasty plans for Earth, and have enlisted the aid of a boy genius to invent a car add-on that can be used to change our atmosphere. Martha is now working for UNIT, and Donna's grandfather is living vicariously through his granddaughter's adventures.

The sonic screwdriver gets a major work-out through-out this two parter, as the Doc deals with the Sontaran, the military, "evil Martha", a kidnapped TARDIS, and a world-wide smog!

I thoroughly enjoyed this set of episodes, and am looking forward to the next one. "Hello, Dad!"

 

[Francois Caron]

I was surprised over next week's preview. Is The Doctor an almost-900 year old deadbeat dad?

 

[JohnS]

I liked the end of the Poision Sky. With Martha being locked in the Tardis with the Doctor and Donna being sent somewhere.

Didn't anyone notice Rose during the Doctor/Donna/Sontaran transmission. it seemed like she was yelling "Donna NO!" or "Doctor!"

Who on earth would be the mother of the Doctor's Daughter?
could she be a POTENTIAL future daughter?
Kind of like Back to the Future II
(your daughter is in trouble)
Doctor's daughter seems kind of hot too.

It also looks like the Doctor's daughter kisses a woman between those jail bars.
I've paused it and it looks like a woman, even in the face.
The hair is short, but the face looks a lot like a woman.

But after looking at the segment again, there's another scene with a solider that looks the same
he just has feminine features.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Romana???

The Actress playing the Daughter is Peter Davison's (5th Doctor) real life Daughter.

 

[Stephen Orr]

Re: The Doctor's Daughter. By the numbers (literally, as the episode progresses), as the Doctor, Donna, and Martha land on a planet where a war rages between a groups of human soldiers, and a race of fish-headed creatures called the Hath. In the pre-title sequence, we are quickly introduced to the Doctor's "daughter", a lovely young girl created from his genetic material. Martha gets separated from the others, and has her own little adventures with the Hath, as the Doctor vows to find a way to stop the fightling, and along the way, manages to instill a spirit of something more into his young daughter.
It's a fairly entertaining episode, kind of a let-down after the last Sontaran two parter, but still, the end leaves us with the possibility of a spin-off series, if the producers choose to go that way. Plenty of one liners, and the Doctor's hand (a former prize of Captain Jack's) gets a couple of cameos at the beginning and end of the show.
Martha gets a little closure, and next week looks to be a hoot -- back to the past with Agatha Christie!

 

[JohnS]

Yeah. I'm excited we get a murder mystery with Agatha Christie.
Donna looks like she will fit right in that time period.

It also looks like the Doctor will be running into his daughter again. But will the Doctor get to see his daughter again before he regenerates again?

Also that line at the end inside the Tardis about an endless paradox.
"Jenny was the reason for bringing us here, we then created Jenny in the first place."
Makes my brain hurt thinking about it.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

The Doctor's Daughter was a bit of a disappointment for me - some nice ideas, but the execution of those ideas just wasn't right - mostly in the writing, I think. It just felt like there was too much in it, and so it was terribly rushed. Add to that the fact that they had to shoehorn Martha in when she didn't really need to be there. (I was listening to the podcast commentary, and apparently they didn't have anything for Donna to do until late in the game, when they came up with the idea of the numbers. It probably would have played a lot better if they had not had Martha in the story, and instead given Martha's storyline to Donna.)

 

[Tony J Case]

For starters, a bit of news on the future of the show: Steven Moffat to replace Russell T Davies as executive producer

As far as the present goes, the Unicorn and the Wasp was a pretty good, pretty light and fluffy show. Not quite working as a comedy for me, but still a fun romp. Cant wait for next week's show, tho - the trailer looks great.

 

[PhilipG]

What a blessed relief!

 

[JohnS]

The Unicorn and the Wasp

I liked it. but would much rather see something to do with the "Unicorn" then the "Wasp".

But I did have a lot of fun with the episode dialogue wise.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Why do you feel that way, Philip?

I'm sorry to pull you away from Eurovision to answer my question.

 

[PhilipG]

Since you asked, Kevin...

Because I find him to be a very poor script-writer. I haven't particularly enjoyed any of his scripts (with the exception of his first two xmas specials, and, oddly, Love & Monsters). He focuses too much on soap-opera elements (I'm all for drama, not so much melodrama) and Deus Ex Machina. In addition, these past few seasons have been degrading in quality quite remarkably*. The Doctor's Daughter and The Unicorn And The Wasp have been as embarrassing to watch as some of Sly McCoy's eps.

David Tennant's Who, at times, when he's being serious, is brilliant. Unfortunately, the norm for him has been to ape about like a moron, and for that I blame the executive producer.

Conversely, I think Moffat has done a splendid job so far; all his scripts have been great. Blink and The Girl In The Fireplace especially.

We needed a change - and Moffat would have been my choice, with maybe Paul Cornell second. Whether Moffat will improve the general quality... well, I hope so. We'll see.

RTD has had - what? - five years at the helm? That's probably enough for any exec prod, just as it is for any Doctor. But I'd still like to keep RTD for the Xmas specials, because they have more of a pantomime feel to them for which I reckon he's well-suited.

(* But what do I know? Fans on Dr Who forums consistently give episodes 5 out 5, even for dreck like "42", and the general public seems to love them too, so I keep shtum. One or two great eps a year is better than none.)

 

[RickER]

Philip, i cant say i disagree, cause i dont. The episodes i have seen this year are a tad weak compared to last year. The Girl in the Fireplace is my favorite episode of the entire series. Just about anything written by Russell T. Davies seems to be at the bottom of the heap. I even hated the first episode of the new series, Rose, and thought, they didnt learn a damn thing in 15 years. Moffat's scripts seem to always be top notch.

But i did like "42", so what do i know too!

 

[JohnS]

I absolutely loved Girl in the Fireplace and Blink

I didn't mind 42 that much.

I actually hate the Christmas episodes, except for the very fun Voyage of the Damned

and the first episode Rose I actually hated.

another episode I really enjoyed was Gridlock, which I don't think went over to well.

I really can do without the really goofy storylines, kind of like the whole wasp idea in Unicorn and the Wasp or the farting Aliens.
I prefer more complicated timeline thinking, like Time Crash and Blink

But I do think that this season has been the best out of the four.(so far)
It seems to have been more enjoyable and run the smoothest.
I've been very impressed with Donna.

 

[Ed Moroughan]

Hey, for anyone who hasn't seen this yet:

YouTube - Doctor Who Mid Series Trailer

 

[Francois Caron]

Forget the mid-season trailer! After the last serie's "Blink" episode, how will they top that this time?