Doctor Who (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Good to know, but still agreed 100 percent on your last point.

 

[NeilO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony J Case
Good news, Ladies and Gentlemen - The BBC has announced that Season Six Thirty-two will kick off on April 26th. Even better BBC America announced that IT will premiere the show on the same day:

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/03/dwn090311195508-bbc-america-announce-us.html

So no lag between the UK and the States! Sweet! (I'll still probably acquire it through -ahem- other means, since it would still be faster than waiting for the west coast premiere. That and I dont have cable. . . .)

That's Saturday April 23.

Note that when Memorial Day Weekend comes around the odds are that BBCA will not be showing a new episode (as has been their habit around most holidays) while the BBC will be probably showing the 6th episode that weekend. The first half of the season is 7 episodes.

 

[ChadMcCallum]

There's also a two part Comic Relief mini adventure on this Friday. Its supposed to be more lighthearted than normal Doctor Who but still canon. I'm sure it will be on the Comic Relief YouTube page shortly after transmission. You can read a bit more about it here: http://www.suite101.com/content/doctor-who-leads-bbcs-2011-red-nose-day-line-up-a357856

 

[Tony J Case]

By the way, here's the Youtube links:

Part 1-


Part 2 -


And brace yourself, it's Brain Hurty time. . . .

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

 

[The Obsolete Man]

As of right now, BBCA's schedule is saying that the first of the new episodes will be in a one hour timeslot.

Does this mean the episode will be hacked up, and I shouldn't even bother trying to watch the BBCA presentation?

 

[ChadMcCallum]

The first airing of each episode of Doctor Who on BBC America is uncut, the repeats however are cut for time.

 

[Brian Kidd]

RIP Elisabeth Sladen.

Man, this news just floored me. She was the first companion I ever saw, so she was very special to me. I feel like another huge part of my childhood has died.

 

[NeilO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Kidd
RIP Elisabeth Sladen.

Man, this news just floored me. She was the first companion I ever saw, so she was very special to me. I feel like another huge part of my childhood has died.

Here is the BBC article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13137674

I had no idea she was even ill.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yes very sad news, although she was looking a bit thin toward the end of season 3 of TSJA. My wife died last year at 45 of cancer her nae also Elizabeth, I hate cancer its a very evil disease that has claimed far too many.

 

[Tony J Case]

I'm not crying! That's dust in my eye!

. . . .

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Quite an opener. Smith's whole first series built up to the kind of tension and high stakes this one opened with right out of the gate. If the events of the opening scene cannot be re-written, then it obviously boxes the writers into a corner in a big way. Are the silent, telepathic aliens who fancy MIB attire and disappear from your memory as soon as you see them a new alien species or a previously explored one? Either way, I'm guessing the tally marks on their faces are a way to keep track of their run-ins with the aliens, so they'll know one has occurred after they break eye contact and forget all about it.

Liked their portrayal of Nixon, too, though the resemblance was more than a little shaky. Everything with Nixon is seen through the lens of Watergate now, so it was nice to Nixon as simply the current president of the United States -- trying to save a little girl while wondering how his security could be breached in such an extraordinary way.

Glad to have this one back.

 

[Michael Harris]

I liked how BBC America showed the premier episode with "limited commercial interruption". I can only imagine how unwatchable it would have been with full commercial interruption. Anyone know how much was cut for U.S. airing?

 

[Tony J Case]

Well, I thoght the season opener was really interesting. The one thing that Seasons 1 - 4.5 (or 29-34 for you keeping score at home) suffered from was falling into a rut. The same Earth based light fluffy episode, the historical episode with a famous person cameo, the far flung future episode, the mid-season 2 parter, and then the season really took off. Not that I minded or anything, but there was very much a pattern to events beginning to form. Hell, even season 5 more or less followed that template. This time around with the Impossible Astronaut, it was nice to see things getting shook up a bit. It felt more like we had skipped foward a couple of weeks and wound up smack in the middle of the series, like I had missed the run-up. On the other hand, starting the series with a massive bang like this gives the sense that we have something massive to look forward to!

Clearly the Doctor wont stay dead, but man I cant see how they'll write themselves out of that corner! It'll be all wibbly wobbly, I'm sure!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The British airing was 43 min, 36 seconds, so unless there were more than 16 minutes of commercials, it was probably broadcast uncut.

 

[NeilO]

The CBBC Tribute video to Elisabeth Sladen that was broadcast last night can be seen on YouTube

Well, they have some 200 Doctor years to write themselves out of what happened at the beginning of last night's episode.

One thing about the episode that I hope they have completely clear is River Song and her memories. I thought that she has stated or implied in previous episodes that she knew a later regeneration of the Doctor. If that is the case, she knows that there is something weird going on with time here and somehow what they saw happen, doesn't happen.

I think it looks like this season is going to be another interesting ride.

Also, I was glad that they were able to cast W. Morgan Sheppard and his son Mark Sheppard as Canton Everett Delaware III. It is great when something like that works.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by NeilO
One thing about the episode that I hope they have completely clear is River Song and her memories. I thought that she has stated or implied in previous episodes that she knew a later regeneration of the Doctor. If that is the case, she knows that there is something weird going on with time here and somehow what they saw happen, doesn't happen.

I believe what she said is that she has photos of all the Doctor's faces in her TARDIS notebook. One thing I found poignant is that her life with the Doctor is essentially like living with an Alzheimer's patient; with rare exceptions, their timelines are inversed so that from River's perspective each time they meet she has more memories with the Doctor, but the Doctor has less memories with her. And virtually none of the memories cross over, since almost all of the Doctor's memories of River are from her future. The connection between her and Amy Pond was also reinforced, since they both first met the Doctor as impressionable young children, and their lives were shaped in profound ways by the experience.

 

[Tony J Case]

I've got the Liz Sladen tribute on my desktop, but I haven't quite gotten up the gumption to watch it yet. My room is still . . . very dusty.

 

[AlexF]

Originally Posted by Michael Harris
I liked how BBC America showed the premier episode with "limited commercial interruption". I can only imagine how unwatchable it would have been with full commercial interruption. Anyone know how much was cut for U.S. airing?

According to BBCA, the first airing was uncut.

 

[Michael Harris]

Good to know we got the entire episode but it was difficult to watch with all the commercials. With the sloppy inserts, I really did think that material was getting cut. That said, I did like the episode and wish that FIOS would have the BBC America HD feed.