Doctor Who

[Twisted Minstrel]

Facesucking? Awards? Just what are we missing over here?

Sad to say I missed 'The Empty Child' - but hope to see part two this weekend.

[Sheridan]

What's with all this facesucking the Doctor's doing with women?

Well in this case David Tennant had been practicing, it being his off screen girlfriend...

[BBOvenGuy]

Okay, my fellow Americans - now that the SciFi Channel has shown all three Hugo nominees, which one did you like best?

"Dalek?"
"Father's Day?"
Or "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances?"

Hmmm?

[Twisted Minstrel]

Having now just seen The Empty Child/Doctor Dances, it has my vote. Both these and Father's Day have the right things in common: focussing on the central characters and what drives them, what attracts them to one another and how they solve problems together.

EC/DD has the addition of being almost epic in it's scope - set during the Blitz, the subplots with Captain Jack, Nancy's secret, the accidental nightmare created out of good intentions - tight writing, some real wit for a change and even a little rivalry for Rose's affections. Rich, great stuff.

[Gatito Grande]

What TM said: TEC/DD have definitely been the best new Who so far.

GG Gotta love all the polymorphous (but mainly m/m) perversity! (the guy who sleeps w/ the butcher, plus Capt. Jack in all his glory... ) Out

[umgaynow]

OK, I watched this for the first time last night...clueless me didn't even realize that there was a new Dr. Who...go figure...the episode was The Doctor Dances...great show...I was quite impressed...but my God, how creepy was the whole gas mask where's Mummy brigade...eep!

[Sheridan]

Okay tonights UK episode, so many cool things but one small point that caught my attention which I'll put on spoiler:

Spoiler:

The alternate Mickey is called Ricky. Now when the tenth doctor first met him he insisted on calling him Ricky, the doctor even contradicted Mickey when he corrected him. At the time I thought the Doctor was just winding him up. Now added to the doctors commetn about 'its happening again' when he sees the Cybermen you have to wonder...

Well the Cybermen are menacing, the alternate selves are interesting, and I honestly do not see how the Doctor is getting out of this one(especially if you check the Tardisode and see the South American State number) so a pretty good episode in my opinion.

[Triscuit7]

Darcy and I were at the last World Con in Glasgow and will be at the one in Anaheim/LA this August, so we actually have the opportunity to vote a Hugo ballot. I knew I was going to have a difficult time since I thought Dalek and Father's Day were both excellent and couldn't decide between them. Then I watched The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. I thought TEC was ok, but TDD was absolutely awesome. I still don't think it's an easy choice but I'm leaning towards TEC/TDD. Nancy was wonderful, the effects were great, and what can you say about Capt Jack. And how is it possible for a kitten to vote against an episode with the line "...this time, Rose,... Everybody Lives!" Fantastic!

Ciao, Melissa

[BBOvenGuy]

Trivia point - Don Warrington, who plays alternate-Earth's "President of Great Britain," has played Rassillon in several Big Finish audio dramas. I was going crazy trying to figure out where I'd heard his voice before, and then I saw his name in the credits.

And speaking of familiar voices, is the actress who played Thelma in Hex now doing the "Coming up next" voice-overs for BBC3?

All in all, a good episode, but not quite up to the level of the previous three for me. The whole "Mickey's the neglected member of the TARDIS crew" routine seemed a bit obvious and forced. Plus, the Doctor and Rose are thick as thieves again, when the last two episodes had really seemed to put a strain on their relationship. Clearly, some time has passed since the end of "The Girl in the Fireplace" (long enough for Mickey to get a haircut, anyway), but we don't know how much time or what happened in between. It made the first half of the episode seem a bit odd. Things picked up in the second half, though, which bodes well for next week.

[Feena]

Don't know about Jemima Rooper doing voice-overs, I'll listen out next time.

I enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. I think because it has a slow-building plot (you don't actually get to see the cybermen properly until near the end) it will work better when we can see it as one story instead of two separate parts.

I thought that the three two-parters from last year had more of a self-contained story in each episode, as well as the overall tale. I felt that this was much more like Classic Doctor Who with one long story and the cliff-hanger episode break. This isn't a bad thing, one thing I love about DW is that it can be so different from one episode to another. I'm just looking forward to next week so I can watch it through in one go.

[Sasha]

Spoiler:

The Girl in the Fireplace: Mixed feelings on this one. Loved the bana reference, Arthur the horse, drunk!Doctor, and Mickey saying 'it looks so realistic!', amoungst other things. Had me laughing out loud many times, excellent humour in this one.
Two major grumbles though: Mickey's first episode as a companion, and he got to do basically NOTHING. Not many people like Mickey anyway (I think he's fab, for the record), and that's hardly the way to make people interested in him.
Secondly, The Doctor just abandoning Rose on a spaceship that chops up humans with no means of escape in order to save some 18th Centurary girl he's known for all of a day (in his time), knowing fully well that he can't get back to her, she can't get to him, and she and Mickey can't pilot the TARDIS? No. Just... no. I'm not a raving Doctor/Rose shipper who automatically hates any other love interest (I actually thought Madame de Pompadore was quite cool), but that really really bothered me.

Rise of the Cybermen: That was more like it. A decent episode with no major plotholes, and a chance for Mickey to really shine. The Cybermen were definitely creepy, in a psychological horror sort of way - personally I find the concept of them even more disturbing than the concept of the Daleks. And In The Jungle playing over the screams... *shudders* that was terrifying. Not a lot to say other than that, as it was mainly setting stuff up for next week, but definitely a thumbs up here.

For all your American folk... aren't The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances just the best episodes EVER?

[Twisted Minstrel]

For all your American folk... aren't The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances just the best episodes EVER?

They were the best I've seen so far of Eccleston's Doctor - and if I had to give a top 5 list of best Dr. Who episodes overall, it would definitely be there.

Which begs the question - anyone want to give their Top 5 favorite episodes - and why?

[WebWarlock]

The Empty Child and Doctor Dances might be among the best of all Doctor Who episodes. And this is a die hard Tom Baker fan that STILL thinks the Key to Time series is some of the best television ever.

Now. David Tennet is certainly a better Doctor.

LOVED Rise of the Cybermen, favorite bad guys ever. Can't wait till the Doctor explains to Rose and Mickey what the cybermen are.

I remember in 1984 when they invaded Earth.....

Warlock

[BBOvenGuy]

Which begs the question - anyone want to give their Top 5 favorite episodes - and why?

Geez, only five? I'm not sure I could hold myself to those limits.

Heck, I could list five favorites for the Fourth Doctor alone:

"Genesis of the Daleks"
"Pyramids of Mars"
"The Masque of Mandragora"
"The Talons of Weng-Chiang"
"City of Death"

And even then I'd be leaving out episodes like, "Warrior's Gate," "The Hand of Fear," and "State of Decay."

Then I could list five favorites among the other Doctors:

"Doctor Who and the Silurians" (Third Doctor/Liz Shaw/UNIT)
"Kinda" (Fifth Doctor/Nyssa/Tegan/Adric)
"Remembrance of the Daleks" (Seventh Doctor/Ace)
"The Curse of Fenric" (Seventh Doctor/Ace)
"The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" (Ninth Doctor/Rose/Captain Jack)

And even then I'd be leaving out episodes like "Inferno" (Third Doctor/Liz/UNIT), "Day of the Daleks" (Third Doctor/Jo Grant/UNIT), "The End of the World" (Ninth Doctor/Rose) and "School Reunion" (Tenth Doctor/Rose/Mickey/Sarah Jane/K9) - the last of those being too new for me to have perspective yet.

And if that wasn't enough, I could also list five favorite audio dramas:

"Spare Parts" (Fifth Doctor/Nyssa)
"Jubilee" (Sixth Doctor/Evelyn Smythe)
"Doctor Who and the Pirates" (Sixth Doctor/Evelyn)
"Shada" (Eighth Doctor/Romana/K9)
"Invaders from Mars" (Eighth Doctor/Charlotte Pollard)

Five Virgin New Adventures and Missing Adventures novels:

"The Romance of Crime" (Fourth Doctor/Romana/K9)
"Blood Heat" (Seventh Doctor/Ace/Benny Summerfield)
"The Left-Handed Hummingbird" (Seventh Doctor/Ace/Benny)
"No Future" (Seventh Doctor/Ace/Benny/UNIT)
"The Dying Days" (Eighth Doctor/Benny)

And several others...

And finally, five BBC novels:

"Alien Bodies" (Eighth Doctor/Samantha Jones)
"Seeing I" (Eighth Doctor/Sam)
"The Scarlet Empress" (Eighth Doctor/Sam/Iris Wildthyme)
"Unnatural History" (Eighth Doctor/Sam/Fitz)
"Interference" (Parts I and II) (Eighth Doctor/Sam/Fitz/Sarah Jane Smith/Third Doctor)

Great googly moogly, I've got a lot of Doctor Who in my head...

[WebWarlock]

No doubt.

BTW how freaking cool is "The Curse of Fenric" almost makes up for "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy".

Warlock

[Twisted Minstrel]

Great googly moogly, I've got a lot of Doctor Who in my head...

WOW.

I'm seriously impressed with your remembrance of past Who. I haven't seen the 'classic' series since about...1986, I think. Of the episodes you mentioned, I do remember the Talons of Weng Chiang and the Pyramids of Mars. I would add to the list the Leisure Hive and the Key to Time series. I loved Romana 1, so droll and unimpressed.

Of the Davison years, I think the Caves of Androzani represented best, but I did like a little episode from his last season called The Awakening. I never got familiar with Colin Baker's Doctor, but I did see the Two Doctors and much of the Trial of a Timelord and enjoyed them very much.

I wish I could remember the Troughton and Pertwee years better and I never got to see any of Sylvester McCoy or Hartnell. :(

[billy]

In no particular order (and more than 5) :

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

The Parting of the Ways - for what Rose is prepared to do for the Doctor, what the Doctor does for Rose, what the holo Doctor says to Rose, that kiss (and it aint with Rose) and the special effects.

Tooth and Claw - the problem I've had with the new series is the 45 minute one part stories, but TAC worked perfectly.

Remembrance of the Daleks - Sylvester McCoy gets a lot of criticism but I loved him as the Doctor with the wonderfully butch Ace, one of my favourite companions.

The Curse of Fenric

The Daleks - I've been watching Doctor Who as long as I can remember but didn't become a fan until I started buying the videos and The Daleks was one of the first. Grainy black and white picture but it is wonderful.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Tom Baker at his best and another of my favourite companions, Leela.

[still waters run deep]

The Daleks - I've been watching Doctor Who as long as I can remember but didn't become a fan until I started buying the videos and The Daleks was one of the first. Grainy black and white picture but it is wonderful.

you had to be a kid in the early sixties to remember the total hysteria that the appearance of the Daleks awoke in the UK population. They more than anything sent the Dr Who series to iconic status more or less immediately

[billy]

That was more like it. Age of Steel was much better than last week's episode.

Minor spoilers for this episode and future episodes:

Spoiler:

I was very relieved that Mickey wasn't killed off and now that it's impossible to travel between universes it probably means that the Cybermen from the final two episodes are going to be 'our' Cybermen.

[justin]

Tonights episode was very good.

Particularly good were the Doctor's quiff and the use of the opening from Watch With Mother (not that I'm old enough to have seen that, of course). They even had Maureen Lipman as the monster.

When the doctor took the video tape out of TV monster killing device, did anyone else think "Ring!" or was it just me.

Best line, "Only an idiot hangs the Union Flag up upside down. For shame.!

[billy]

A good episode.

Spoiler:

I loved Tommy talking about his father fighting against the fascists in the Second World War but had now turned into a fascist and about loving who you want to love.

Didn't like the Doctor's scary hair.

But I did like : The Doctor driving the scooter out of the TARDIS, Rose looking a little Lady Penelope-ish, the Doctor's reaction on Rose being de-faced and the Doctor and Rose's relationship.

[Feena]

Wow

In a completely different 'wow' way than other episodes. If the second part lives up to the first this could end up being up there with my favourite DW stories....ever!!

Disturbing, chilling, f***ing scary for 7 pm on a Saturday night!....and it was partly filmed in a quarry!!!!

What more could a fangirl girl ask for?

[justin]

Yes that was a great episode.

I liked the mini cliffhanger at the start, and the way it was resolved

A creepy episode, very different from the others so far.

[Candleshoe]

I thought it was creepy too, justin. Did anyone else notice a certain familiarity? A very evil Evil Thing, a seal, some minions...

And who the heck played Ida? I have definitely seen her somewhere before...

[justin]

And who the heck played Ida? I have definitely seen her somewhere before...

I think she played Cassie's mother in Hex.

ETA: I know we can't really expect scientific accuracy from Dr who, but that stuff about blackholes had me

IE, it's perfectly possible for a planet to be orbiting a blackhole

[Candleshoe]

I think she played Cassie's mother in Hex

I swear I've seen her being "zany and outrageous" in a sit-com...

Ah, well. I'll have to wait until someone somewhere updates the cast lists on the BBC site or IMDb. It's irritating me now though...

[Feena]

I think she played Cassie's mother in Hex

I swear I've seen her being "zany and outrageous" in a sit-com...

Ah, well. I'll have to wait until someone somewhere updates the cast lists on the BBC site or IMDb. It's irritating me now though...

She was in Carrie and Barrie. I never watched it so I don't know if it was "zany and outrageous"

Cassies's mum was played by Geraldine James, but they do look alike.

[Candleshoe]

She was in Carrie and Barrie. I never watched it so I don't know if it was "zany and outrageous"

I've never watched it either, so it can't be that

Anyone know her name, even?

[Feena]

It's Claire Rushbrook

[Candleshoe]

So she is. I must have seen her in Linda Green...which wasn't a sit-com and which wasn't particularly zany or outragoues.

I'm either going mad or getting old, or both, I guess