Doctor Who (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony J Case
And Rory getting killed was unexpected. Not quite as unexpected as Owen getting killed mid-season in Torchwood, but not too far behind. I wonder if when the Doctor inevitably sorts out the Crack in the Universe, will all these erased people come back, or will they have the balls to kill Rory for good?

Only watching on BBCA I just saw poor Rory get wiped out. I guess this really poses the big question with the cracks in time originating on Amy's wedding day. Now, is she still supposed to be getting married and to whom? When they returned to the TARDIS, I think the ring was still there. The (how many parts?) season ender is going to be a real corker.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

You can tell they've been pocketing away money for this two-parter the entire series, since these were clearly the best F/X so far. I really enjoyed the cold open, as a single thread line weaved between all of the major settings we've seen so far with this Doctor -- all pointing toward the thing that has been quietly sitting in the background the whole time. It's rare for an episodic show to do this good of a job building to a satisfying conclusion for the whole arc, especially a show that makes it up as it goes along like this one does.
Amy is proving to be quite interesting. On one hand, she was important merely because she was the Doctor's current companion, and so the target of the Doctor's enemies. On the other hand, the event that destroys the universe -- as Neil pointed out -- is intimately connected to an important date and time in Amy Pond's life.

It also raises the question of why that photo of Amy and Rory survived when every other trace of Rory outside the TARDIS and the Doctor's person ceased to exist. Without that photo, the Doctor's enemies wouldn't have created the Roman Rory, and without the Roman Rory, Amy wouldn't have had the trigger necessary to defy the laws of universe and remember Rory. The Doctor thought Rory reappearing was the miracle, but it seems to me that the survival of that photo is the real miracle. As sad as it was, I'm glad this Rory wasn't the real Rory because that would have been too much of a deus ex machina.

Originally Posted by Tony J Case
Oh shit - that was quite a cliffhanger. I dont even begin to wrap my brain around how to get out of THAT one.

Next week cant get here soon enough!

I was desperately hoping for a "Next Time..." trailer, but no dice. The idea that the most impenetrable prison ever created in the scope of all time was designed to confine the Doctor is one of those "Well, of course it was!" moments. That it took the form of Pandora's Box because that was Amy's favorite myth growing up is a delicious slice of irony, since "Doctor Who" has always been about the Doctor letting his curiosity get the better of him. The symbolism is also beautiful, since when Pandora closed the box the one thing that stayed trapped was hope. And the Doctor, trapped within, is quite literally the universe's only hope.

EDIT: I don't normally turn to AICN talkbacks for insight, but this comment leapt out at me as dead on: This entire first hour with all of its excitement exists as a distraction "from the fact that the Doctor was on the verge of exploring why a little girl would be left on her own in a big house." As the Doctor himself asked midway through the hour, "Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?" The lasers had to start flying at that moment, because the answer to that question is the key to understanding this series.

 

[BBCAmerica]

Hey Doctor Who fans! It's BBC America coming back to let you know we have a new series coming across the pond on July 7 that will definitely hold you over until the return of Doctor Who. It premieres July 7 at 10/9c and is called The Choir and we think you'll love it - it's a reality documentary that follows Gareth Malone as he attempts to put together competitive choirs out of the most unlikely participants. Gareth spends time in three separate underserved and struggling locations and it's very inspirational to see the impact that being part of these groups has on both the adults and kids involved. )The L.A. Times has called the series "extremely moving" and the Detroit News says it "feels a lot like a real life Glee"). Give this sneak peek a try - we really think you'll like it. And mark your calendars for July 7 now!

 

[ChadMcCallum]

Now that's a cliffhanger. Its not quite as good as the one from The Stolen Earth but its damn close. I can't wait for The Big Bang!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Wonderful symmetry with the series premiere. It was fun seeing the way Amy and little Amelia play off each other; while in the first episode little Amelia's performance had to play into how Karen Gillan attacked the role, in the series finale we get to see bits of Gillan's performance in little Amelia. Was a giant reset button pressed? Absolutely. The entire season was erased then some. But you can't say it wasn't earned. Moffatt had to have this finale planned out right from the beginning; since I remember the moments of the Doctor's life flashing before his eyes from the episodes in which they originally aired. The one from "Flesh and Stone" is particularly clever, because in a couple shots you can see his tweed jacket when the contemporary Doctor quite obviously wasn't wearing the jacket. Going back to that episode, there's even a shot in the scene from the perspective of where being-erased Doctor is hiding.

The ending raises some questions; the Doctor came back because Amy remembered him; something seemingly only Amy can do. But Amy only remembered because River dropped off her spoilers book, which she should not have remembered to do (or even have had) if the Doctor had been erased from existence. This finale solved precisely half of the season's mystery, by figuring out and eliminating the cracks in space-time that were sucking away the universe. As the Doctor pointed out, though, they never figured out why the TARDIS exploded at the place and time of Amy Pond's wedding day in the first place. Judging by the final beat, it doesn't look like they're going to explore that going forward. River's moment with the Doctor was definite foreshadowing, as I think the next series promises to delve into some of the spoilers that she's kept dangling over the Doctor's head.

I'm of mixed feelings about Rory. I'm happy he survived and I'm happy their wedding went off successfully -- proving, at the end, that this series was a comedy and not a tragedy -- but I like the Doctor-Amy episodes better than the Doctor-Amy-Rory episodes. They always seem to have to struggle to find something interesting for him to do. Sad to say, he was more interesting as the nearly immortal plastic robot duplicate with the soul of the original trapped inside.

Bring on Series 32!

 

[Tony J Case]

I'm thrilled by Rory's inclusion in the Tardis crew. Much like Mickey, he didnt do much for me at the start, but eventually he grew as a character and by the end I really liked him. As for the episode? Oi vay, my head hurts!

Its interesting on how intricately planned this season was. There was satire about an election right before England went to the polls, there was episode with a football match on the opening weekend of the world cup, Stonehenge is featured on the eve of the Summer Solstice and the climax is set on the date of the finale's transmission date.

And the level of detail within the episodes where you actually had to pay attention - every throwaway line ("A madman with a box"), every seemingly innocent plot point plot point (Amy's predestination paradox postcard in The Lodger), every "continuity error" (The Doctor with his jacket on talking with Amy in Flesh of Stone wasn’t the Now Doctor at all) and loads of foreshadowing - sometimes subtle, sometimes not - left right and center. Add in normal glitches that fanboys would obsess over (Rory's badge having the wrong date on it) and you've got one hell of an audacious and challenging season.

It puts the "Bad Wolf" that RTD's shoehorned into every episode to shame.

After 40 years, we've been trained expect that a post-regeneration story is obligatory fluff, serving pretty much to simply set up the new Doctor. This time around what comes across as fluff turns out to be the most important episode of the entire season. Seeds were sown, hints were dropped, and inconsistencies were raised - all paying off if the viewer was attentive.

And we're still not done yet. Who was the voice in the Tardis saying "Silence will fall"? Why did the Tardis explode in the first place? What was that psudo-Tardis doing on top of that house? What happened to the ducks in the pond?

And the time loops - my head hurts. Surprisingly for a show about Time Travel, there are very few stories that actually deal with time travel - and certainly not any on THIS scale. We've got paradoxes and Wibbly-Wobbly far beyond anything we've seen before, like the ending of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey if it was stretched out to 10 hours. Blinovitch must have been spinning in his grave!

Do I like it? I'm not sure - it was entertaining, and certainly gives me something to think about. It doesn’t have the emotional impact (or should that read emotional manipulation?) that The Stolen Earth has, but I think I still liked the result. I'll have to watch - well, the whole series - a couple more times just to see how well it sits with me.

 

[1001100x02]

"This is starting to get interesting. The one thing I don't understand about the show is this: why, if you have a time machine, should there be any consequences to your actions? For instance, what would stop the Doctor from taking the TARDIS into Churchill's cabinet war room five minutes after they arrived in the last episode and warning himself not to identify the Daleks to themselves? It seems that, as long as the Doctor survives, no decision need have any lasting consequence."


It's called the Blinovitch Limitation Effect. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinovitch_Limitation_Effect

 

[Garrett Adams]

Overly scrutinizing this type of science fiction will only lead to grief. /img/vbsmilies/htf/alien.gif

 

[BBCAmerica]

Just checking in to see if anyone caught last night's premiere of The Choir on BBC America? It was pretty amazingly moving, right? If you can't get enough of it, check out these Inside Looks here.

 

[Tony J Case]

Naw, didnt catch it - with Doctor Who wrapped up and the World Cup final this weekend, television is dead to me once again. But hurry up with that Christmas Special!

 

[Parker Clack]

Russ:

Sorry I missed it but looking forward to watching it. The Choir looks great.

We now return you to the Doctor Who channel. /img/vbsmilies/htf/smile.gif

Parker

 

[Garrett Adams]

I watched The Choir and I am hooked. Think Glee, except it's for real. I sure hope Comcast will finally get off the can and add the BBCA HD feed.

 

[NeilO]

Finally saw The Big Bang this weekend. Just a wonderful season. When will BBCA broadcast the Christmas Special?

 

[Garrett Adams]

The wedding party table scene and what followed was wonderful.

 

[Tony J Case]

Originally Posted by NeilO
Finally saw The Big Bang this weekend. Just a wonderful season. When will BBCA broadcast the Christmas Special?

Typically, BBCA seems to get the Xmas special not all that long after the 25th. I've not heard anything, but I'd wager that we'll get it before the 1st.

One long hell of a wait, tho.

 

[NeilO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony J Case
Typically, BBCA seems to get the Xmas special not all that long after the 25th. I've not heard anything, but I'd wager that we'll get it before the 1st.

One long hell of a wait, tho.

There is no typical for BBCA. I think the only actual Doctor Who Christmas special we got on BBCA was The Next Doctor and that aired in June 27, 2009. Though perhaps you could classify The End of Time part 1 as one as well. In any case:

BBC dates for the specials

12/25/08   56    The Next Doctor
  4/11/09   57    Planet of the Dead
 11/15/09   58    The Waters of Mars
 12/25/09   59    The End of Time Part 1 [6:00 pm - 60 minutes]
  1/01/10   60    The End of Time Part 2 [6:40 pm - 75 minutes]

BBCA dates

6/27/09   56    The Next Doctor [9:00 pm ET/PT]
  7/26/09   57    Planet of the Dead [Sun 8:00 pm ET/PT]
 12/19/09   58    The Waters of Mars [9:00 pm - 80 mins]
 12/26/09   59    The End of Time Part 1 [9:00 pm ET/PT - 75 mins]
  1/02/10   60    The End of Time Part 2 [8:30 pm ET/PT - 90 mins]

In any case, since we appear to have a BBCA representative here, I hope he will pipe us with the plans, however tentative they might be.

 

[Will_B]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt
This is starting to get interesting. The one thing I don't understand about the show is this: why, if you have a time machine, should there be any consequences to your actions? For instance, what would stop the Doctor from taking the TARDIS into Churchill's cabinet war room five minutes after they arrived ...

The Doctor cannot go back upon his own timeline (with the exception that he may go back upon the timeline of his other incarnations now and then -- the latter mostly because it is fun to have guest star visits from former Doctors). That really shouldn't stop him from going back to a situation five minutes BEFORE they arrived, or the day before, if it would provide him with a tactical advantage. But, if he did, he'd have to make absolutely sure to leave before he arrived, and who can make plans that firm? In fact Dave Tenant's Doctor did this in his finale, visiting a certain companion about 24 hours before he'd arrive.

The Doctor also has restrictions on interfering with some major historical events. It is all rather murky but it is often implied that as a Time Lord he can see or perceive when a particular situation is too important to the timeline to be meddled with. Important deaths, important decisions, sometimes must be protected, and he knows (somehow) what those are. ...Though he can interfere with aliens who are themselves attempting to interfere with major historical events, and often does.

 

[Tony J Case]

Oooh, new news about season 6 . . .
 
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Steven Moffat has announced that the next series of Doctor Who will be split in two with a 'gamechanging' cliffhanger in episode 7.
"The split series is hugely exciting because viewers will be treated to two premieres, two finales and more event episodes. For the kids it will never be more than a few months to the next Doctor Who! Easter, Autumn, Christmas!!"
The BBC press office describe the split transmission as the result of a request from Steven Moffat to write a new Doctor Who story arc which involves a big plot twist in the middle of the series. "By splitting the series Moffat plans to give viewers one of the most exciting Doctor Who cliffhangers and plot twists ever, leaving them waiting, on the edge of their seats, until the autumn to find out what happens."

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I have a feeling we'll all be screaming "Bastard!" at Moffat through our TV screens once that cliffhanger comes around.

 

[Will_B]

I wonder if it may be something like what happened on Farscape mid-way through one season or another (I don't recall which), when the show ended up with not one but two John Chrichtons, each having their own separate adventures.