Doctor Who

[SithLordWiccan]

*waits for SLW to finish watching the episode*

*finishes watching...a half our or so ago*

OK, I admit it. I was wrong. The whole "bring-back-everyone-under-the-sun" thing was something I was concerned about, but it managed to work, even bringing back Harriet Jones, last seen getting chucked out of office three years ago (that may explain the return of the "Harriet Jones, Insert-whatever-it is-she's-doing-at-present and have everyone say they know who she is" gag that was never funny to begin with, especially coming from the Daleks.)

The other thing I was concerned about was Davros. Considering RTD's track record for reinventing Classic Series elements, I had serious doubts he could pull off what is arguably its third most well known villain. I guess that's what makes it so surprising for me that Julain Bleach manages to outshine even Michael Wisher in "Genesis", and that tells you a lot considering how iconic Wisher's performance in "Genesis" is.

Sadly, though, the end really sticks out like a sore thumb. First off, we know that Tennant is coming back for the 08 X-mas special (which has already been filmed, I hear), plus the three specials over 2009 and the fifth series in 2010, so either the newly regenerated 11th Doctor looks exactly like the Tenth, or a massive wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey retcon paradox thing is going to have to be enacted, whereupon it'll be undone.

Which leads me to this. I'm calling right now that Rose is the "everlasting companion" that gets killed. Think about it. One of Series 2's running themes was that she was going to die in battle, something that we all thought was going to happen in "Doomsday." Well, in a technical way, it didn't, so that plot thread's still dangling. And in order to enact the WWTW situation described above, they'll probably find some way to get her to go back in time and knock the Doctor out of the way, taking the Dalek's blast instead.

In the end, though, my negative attitude probably was for the best, since I went into it with very little expectations; probably why I ended up feeling so good about it. Unfortunately, it puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of "Journey's End", and I'd be lying if I said it can pull it off.

Speaking of Journey's End, look what I found on YouTube?

[Feena]

I think Julian Bleach is brilliant, The trailer didn't take long to get on to YouTube, the BBC only showed it four hours ago. I especially love how he starts off sounding normal (for a meglomaniacal psychopath) but then builds up to a rant, which tails off so he doesn't sound completely loopy.

The Harriet Jones gag still makes me chuckle, especially when the Daleks said it. I'm glad she got a decent, brave, ending (although, spoiler-free about this, we didn't actually see her die).

The fifth series hasn't been confirmed yet, but you're right he is in the Christmas Special, which has already been filmed, and the Specials next year.

I feel like it should be Rose who dies (permanently) as dramatically I think that finishes her story. And ends any chance of her coming back again. I don't know if RTD would ever do that, I'm more worried about Donna. I love Donna.

[SithLordWiccan]

Brain of Morbius and Trial of a Time Lord released in US October 7th.

*starts to saving up the pennies*

*checks price for TOATL set*

$59.98? Hmm. Figured it would have been more.

[Feena]

That's a good deal, they're about £50 on Amazon, nearly $100!

[SithLordWiccan]

That's a good deal, they're about £50 on Amazon, nearly $100!

Guess you're right. I think that's the same price I paid to get the Missing Stories set.

[Feena]

*getting nervous*

Only 12 minutes to go...

[Feena]

*is still crying*

[SithLordWiccan]

*is still crying*

It won't be on YouTube till tomorrow, and the Wiki entry is bare bones at best.

Spoil me, please?

[Feena]

Complete plot synopsis

Spoiler:

Main points...

Ten directs the regeneration power into the hand-in-a-jar and uses it to heal himself.
The TARDIS ends up on the Dalek mother ship
Donna gets left behind on the TARDIS, Davros casts it into the centre of the Death Star to destroy it.
Lots of flames.
Hand-in-a-jar glows and power arcs to Donna then back again.
10.5 arrives (nekkid ) - only 1 heart
Puts on blue suit (boo! )
Mickey and Jackie turn up and save Sarah Jane, they all end up on mother ship too.
Blue Suit has gun and tries to shoot Davros
Doesn't work, gets electric stun blast.
Donna tries to shoot Davros.
Also doesn't work, gets electric stun blast.
Davros "mwahhhaaahhhhah".
Donna gets up - she's half-Time Lord and half-human because of the power arc.
Donna saves the day (hurrah).
Then all three together (Dalek Caan's threefold man?) sort stuff out.
Davros dies in flame and explosions (yeah, right, we know he has an escape pod!).
All the planets go back.
Mickey and Martha leave with Capt Jack.
Sarah Jane goes back to Luke.
Ten and Donna, 10.5 and Rose, and Jackie go back to Bad Wolf Bay.
"He's got all my memories, etc, but he's only got one heart so he'll die same as you. He needs you, he was born in war and rage (like Nine)."
10.5 and Rose stay there.
Rose 4 Doctah 4 eva & eva (bleurgh)
A human can't exist as half Time Lord. Ten mindwipes Donna completely, takes everything they did, all she'd become, away.
Donna is back to pre-Runaway Bride Donna.
He's alone again.

I enjoyed a lot of it. But not everything.

Spoiler:

Not a big fan of Rose and 10.5 together. He's not her Doctor anyway, so it's not the same.

I'm not happy about Donna at all. She's my favourite companion. and she's lost everything.

[SithLordWiccan]

I've been reading up on spoilers since I got home. Now that I've got a pretty good idea about there's really one thing I can say.

I. Fucking. Knew. It. I knew RTD would find some way to fuck this up. When it comes to doing Series Finales, he always has (Doomsday is the sole exception, tempered of course now by the fact that, two years onward, all the awesomeness can now be fact faulted into oblivion.)

The biggest problem with this episode is that we could have guess what was going to happen a mile away. That preview clip that was running around told us how Sarah Jane was going to get out of being exterminated (and what purpose did Jackie and Mickey serve other than to do that, besides setting up their appearances in Torchwood series 3 that, like a lot of other stuff, is about as subtle as running headfirst into a stone wall), so we always knew she was safe (like the fact that Lis has her own show that we already knew was coming back wasn't enough proof.) Ianto and Gwen, from all appearances, don't have anything relevant to contribute to the plot at all (then there's the fact that a reference is dropped to Myles' appearance in Series One, no doubt setting up another thing TW S3 will deal with) and Donna suffers the same fate that Rose did back in Series II: the need to come up with a reason to be carted off by the end because the actress isn't coming back next season, regardless of how lame it sounds on paper.

Speaking of Rose...well, I don't really want to, because Piper really has not done a great deal in the past two episodes towards endearing herself to me (especially those two scenes in "The Stolen Earth" that beat over our heads how much she lurves the Doctor because she was his first or some other such crap). And to give her the DoctorClone...ugh. I don't even know where to begin telling you all that's wrong with that.

The greatest casualty, however, is Davros. “Stolen Earth” was probably the character’s best TV appearance since Genesis, ranking slightly above Remembrance. He didn't appear much, but when he did, it reeked of awesomeness. But then again, "Bad Wolf" did the same to the Daleks, "Army of Ghosts" did that to the Cybermen and "The Sound of Drums" did that to the Master, and in "Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and "The Last of the Time Lords", what good was flushed away out of a need to provide a conclusion to their respecitve stories, no matter how stupid they ended up being. Of course, being an RTD finale, this should not surprise me at all, but "The Stolen Earth" was so awesome that I allowed myself to be convinced otherwise. I now know how foolish a mistake that was.

In the end, I'll say this: I have not seen the episode yet, but considering what I've heard about it thus far, I doubt I want to now, either through YouTube or when it eventually airs over here in Canada next year. It's pretty much the lowest the show's ever been (yes, even including "Love and Monsters", which has the slight advantage of being not important to the overall narrative of the show), meaning that with Moffat now in charge, there's nowhere to go but up.

In the meantime, thanks for nothing Russel T. Davis. Don't let the door hit your behind on the way out.

[Feena]

Radical as it was the last time this happened...I actually agree with a lot that you say!!

I completely forgot about Gwen and Ianto, shows how crucial they were to the plot.

Spoiler:

Tosh had designed some kind of time-lock thingy that kept them safe from the Dalek, and their bullets were hanging in mid-air. It couldn't get in, they couldn't get out.

I hope Davros does come back. I thought Bleach was brilliant. There was no point in having the Supreme Dalek, I'm not even sure how he/it viewed Davros - creator or prisoner? Still, at least Harriet Jones wasn't a traitor, and inside the Red Dalek after all

Oh, the Christmas Special will be a complete surprise - they didn't give it away at all!

[SithLordWiccan]

Radical as it was the last time this happened...I actually agree with a lot that you say!!

I'm actually surprised about that. I really am.

I completely forgot about Gwen and Ianto, shows how crucial they were to the plot.

Spoiler:

Tosh had designed some kind of time-lock thingy that kept them safe from the Dalek, and their bullets were hanging in mid-air. It couldn't get in, they couldn't get out.

So like I said, what purpose is there in being here, other than to provide a means for Jack to get back to the Doctor? (Something that RTD didn't need last series.)

I hope Davros does come back. I thought Bleach was brilliant.

I really agree with that. Anyone who can manage to top Wisher`s iconic Genesis performance needs to be allowed to do the character again, especially when he won’t have to worry about him being treated as an utter gooseberry.

There was no point in having the Supreme Dalek

Of course there was a point. Christmas is coming, isn’t it? Gotta plant the seeds for all that Series Four merchandise that’s incoming. Speaking of Christmas…

Oh, the Christmas Special will be a complete surprise - they didn't give it away at all!

We know the FakeCybermen are coming back. That says it all to me, really.

[Feena]

There was no point in having the Supreme Dalek

Of course there was a point. Christmas is coming, isn’t it? Gotta plant the seeds for all that Series Four merchandise that’s incoming. Speaking of Christmas…

Of course, I knew they had to have a reason for making him red!

I think the main reason I'm angry about Donna is because she'd grown so much and it's all gone.

I didn't want Martha to leave last year, I liked her too, but if she'd had her mind wiped I wouldn't been as bothered. I think even if someone doesn't like CT/DN it's still possible to see how far she'd changed. But now she's back to the woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new-flavoured Pringle. I wish they'd given just a sign that she could find the awesomeness inside her again, on her own.

I love Wilf, he's fab

[SithLordWiccan]

I think the main reason I'm angry about Donna is because she'd grown so much and it's all gone.

Well, I haven't really watched Series Four yet (aside from "The Stolen Earth", which I only watched because of its potential to be the most hilarious unintentional crash and burn I've ever seen on TV), but yes, I will agree that Catherine Tate has made great strides in her delivery, and really isn't as bad as she was in "Runaway Bride." Of course, if RTD didn't resort to the gimmick of making her half Time Lord (we knew ahead of time that Tate wouldn't be back, so a reason had to be invented to get her gone, where we fall back into the whole "we gotta do this, so let's do it, no matter how full of crap it is" excuse that plagued Rose in Series Two) there probably wouldn't have been the need to do that, but we're really forgetting what the real point of this episode was meant to be: wiping away the past four years so Grand Moff(at) Steven can have a clean slate when he takes over.

I didn't want Martha to leave last year, I liked her too, but if she'd had her mind wiped I wouldn't been as bothered.

Thing is, Martha didn't leave the usual way companions leave. She left on her own volition, without any outside intervention. There was no real reason for the Doctor to pull a Superman on her the way he did with Donna.

I love Wilf, he's fab

Agree 100% with you on that. The idea of anyone else shooting a paintgun at a Dalek would be cheesy extreme, but for some reason, it works with him.

[WebWarlock]

I just watched it last night.

Ok, I don't disagree with either of you per se, but I enjoyed the episode.

It was epic and a good send off for RTD version of the Doctor.

More later...

Tim

[Feena]

Casting news from the new season of The Sarah Jane Adventures

Spoiler:

The Brig is back!!!

[SithLordWiccan]

Casting news from the new season of The Sarah Jane Adventures

Spoiler:

The Brig is back!!!

*happy dance!Supreme!*

[Feena]

*happy dance!Supreme!*

It's great, isn't it?

Other casting news - possibly for the Finale...

Spoiler:

Not just the Brigadier, but Mrs Wormwood (Samantha Bond) and a Sontaran have been seen on set

[SithLordWiccan]

Spoiler:

Not just the Brigadier, but Mrs Wormwood (Samantha Bond) and a Sontaran have been seen on set

Spoiler:

Heard they were coming back.

Incidentally, picked up DWM #396 (from Chapters) and #397 (from the comics shop) today. The cover of #397 is a hoot. I saw that on the DWM Facebook page, and thought it was a photoshopped edit. Guess it wasn't.

[Feena]

Incidentally, picked up DWM #396 (from Chapters) and #397 (from the comics shop) today. The cover of #397 is a hoot. I saw that on the DWM Facebook page, and thought it was a photoshopped edit. Guess it wasn't.

The Red Dalek and Ten standing in a rather strange position? I just checked it out on Facebook and is does look a little odd. I'm there under "Feena", the one with the green hair

I'm going to a Convention tomorrow, I'm excited!!

[SithLordWiccan]

The Red Dalek and Ten standing in a rather strange position?

No, the fact that all the words have reverted to "Bad Wolf", in following from the end of "Turn Left."

What convention are you going to?

[TheOriginalLostSoul]

Okay...I may get stoned for this...But, I positively loved the season(that's the word we use in the US)finale of the fourth season - *LS ducks rocks...*

I loved everything about the episode; save two things: One, I had heard that Ben Kingsley was going to portray Davros...Sad that didn't happen cause he'd so owned that part!

Second, I was vastly disappointed with the removal of Donna from the show. That's the second time in a row that the Doctor had a companion for only one season! That bothers me.

Also...It's time for a guy to play second banana to the Doctor...'Nuff chicks already, thank you...

I will miss Russel Davies as the leader of the pack...His work; despite the nah-sayers...Usually did the trick...

And, need I remind you...It was Davies to begin with; who regenerated the good Doctor outta tv limbo after so many years...So, I do think we should raise a glass to the man...Thanks for giving us back our favourite Time Lord!

[Feena]

There are a fair few rumours of spoilers that have surfaced in the last few days, probably for S5 rather than the Specials...

Spoiler:

Patrick Stewart has been approached to play the Meddling Monk.
Daleks
Ice Warriors
Zygons
Historical Celtic companion

To clarify, these are rumours, not definite

eta

Another probable spoiler...

Spoiler:

Albert Finney has signed up to play Winston Churchill in one of the Specials

[Feena]

Location filming speculation for one of the Specials...

Spoiler:

Feel the Force, Luke, go home to Tatooine

[Gatito Grande]

S4 begins (in repeats) on BBC America, Saturday, 11/8.

GG I missed several of the eps on SciFi (due to weather in a stormy Michigan summer), so I'm looking forward to catching them here Out

[Feena]

Well we knew it was coming sometime, but today's the day....

David Tennant has announced that he will leave the award winning BBC drama Doctor Who when he has completed the filming of four special episodes which will be screened in 2009 and early in 2010.

David Tennant first appeared as The Doctor in 2005 and has gone on to star in three series and three Christmas specials as the tenth incarnation of the Time Lord. The BBC has confirmed that David will continue to play The Doctor in the four specials that will make up the 2009 series before a new Doctor takes over for Series 5. Tennant will also star in the Doctor Who Christmas Special titled The Next Doctor this year.

David Tennant comments "I've had the most brilliant, bewildering and life changing time working on Doctor Who. I have loved every day of it. It would be very easy to cling on to the TARDIS console forever and I fear that if I don't take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will. You would be prising the TARDIS key out of my cold dead hand. This show has been so special to me, I don't want to outstay my welcome.

"This is all a long way off, of course. I'm not quitting, I'm back in Cardiff in January to film four special episodes which will take Doctor Who all the way through 2009. I'm still the Doctor all next year but when the time finally comes I'll be honoured to hand on the best job in the world to the next lucky git - whoever that may be.

"I'd always thought the time to leave would be in conjunction with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner who have been such a huge part of it all for me. Steven Moffat is the most brilliant and exciting writer, the only possible successor to Russell and it was sorely tempting to be part of his amazing new plans for the show. I will be there, glued to my TV when his stories begin in 2010.

"I feel very privileged to have been part of this incredible phenomenon, and whilst I'm looking forward to new challenges I know I'll always be very proud to be the Tenth Doctor."

Russell T Davies Executive Producer of Doctor Who comments "I've been lucky and honoured to work with David over the past few years - and it's not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left! After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we're planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching!"

BBC site

[Feena]

The time is nearly here...

New Doctor Who to be announced

The name of the actor who will replace David Tennant in Doctor Who will be announced on Saturday. Tennant said in October that he would stand down from the show after filming four special episodes in 2009.

His replacement - the eleventh Doctor of the TV series - will be revealed in a Doctor Who Confidential programme on BBC One at 17:35 on 3 January.

[Feena]

He is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Smith_(British_actor)

He's so unknown that at this point he doesn't even have a direct wiki page!



BBC News

[Sammy's_girl]

:/ no-one can ever replace David Tennant

[sleepy]

No one has yet replaced Tom Baker for me.