So, I've wanted to be introduced to Doctor Who for a long time, but felt intimidated by the fact that the franchise is literally generations old. I'd probably be similarly intimidated by Star Trek if I was just learning about it. And I'll just go ahead and admit that I was annoyed by David Tennant in the Goblet of Fire, so that was a deterrent to watching that particular Doctor incarnation. So with the introduction of the new Doctor, I felt like it would be a good opportunity to get my feet wet. Except that when I saw commercials for it, I was put off by the actor. He seemed too Michael York-ish to me. Fortunately the Old Man had decided to start watching it, and I was reluctantly pulled in to the point that I realized I quite enjoyed it. And I now have a new girl crush. I felt a little depressed when I realized she would make a better grown-up Ginny Weasley than Bonnie Wright who still looks like she is 11. Regardless, I enjoy her Amelia Pond. Soooooo, anyone else like the show? The most recent episode with the vampires was meh, but I'm still intrigued. I really enjoyed the Weeping Angel storyline. Sufficiently creepy enough to put me off angel statues for awhile. Not that I wasn't already put off, but whatever. I also like the sheer variety. Whale-driven space ships in one episode, and Winston Churchill in the next.
I have not started into the seasons with the 11th Doctor yet, but I recommend catching up on the first of the ''new'' episodes with 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and the 10th Doctor (David Tennant). They are not long seasons and there is some absolutely amazing writing in those episodes (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and Blink are three of my favorites. It is total nerd television, but I am unapologetic about how awesome the new run of Dr. Who has been.
I literally just started watching this show two days ago. I'm up to the third episode of the second season. I can see why you may not have liked The Goblet of Fire, but watch David Tennant in other things. He's actually a pretty great actor.
So I missed this . . . you're seriously going to let 5 minutes of total screen time deter you from watching 3 seasons of one of the most beloved sci-fi characters of all time? You are going to have to overcome your annoyance with his performance of Bartie Crouch Jr and watch those seasons. The Christopher Eccleston Doctor was fantastic, but they always knew he was going to be a single season. The stuff with David Tennant is some of the best classic Sci-Fi TV out there. I seriously would put it up there with the new run of Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, and Firefly. Seriously, you are robbing yourself of some really great episodes and truly memorable performance from Tennant.
We did watch the last episode of Tennant's version because we read somewhere that it made the transition from the old to the new Who. It's not like my aversion to Adrian Brody where I can't see him on the screen without wanting to stab something. It just made me not want to bump it high on my long list of stuff I want to watch and rarely have time for. The new Dr. Who is practically effortless because I only have to slice out an hour a week for it. So anyway, I'm really disliking the inclusion of the fiance. I like the character well enough, but I freaking hate love triangles. I have rarely seen one end without someone in the group looking like a complete douche.
These guys hate Tennant, Robert T. Davies, and most of the New Series with a Brody-esque passion. I like to read the site, though; it's always good to have someone who's far more critical than the rest. Personally, I like the fiance a lot. It was getting a little tired, especially under Tennant's Doctor: Doctor gets nubile companion, companion falls in love with Doctor, Doctor broods, companion saves universe, companion leaves Doctor, Doctor continues walk along boulevard of broken dreams. The fact that Amy has a fiance whom she has a (gasp) stable relationship with takes all the silly emotional claptrap out of it. Plus I like the way their* one kiss was handled - not as some kind of "Worlds Collide" plotline, but as a moment where Amy just got carried away, ultimately given little weight. Haven't seen the second episode of The Hungry Earth two-parter, gonna go catch up now. *Amy and the Doctor **Points for noticing the EVE reference
Am I the only person still watching this show, or what? My faith in Matt Smith has proven to be well-placed; the first two episodes of Season 6 are the best that Nu-Who has ever done. My mind is full of fuck and I love it. Latest episode was a little filler (probably aimed more at the children who watch the show) but the next one is written by Neil Gaiman, and I fully expect it to be awesome.
The pirate episode was only okay, but the season started on such a high note I think I can overlook that, especially with the Gaiman episode up next.
Huge fan here, and never miss an episode. The 2-part season opener was amazing. If you get a chance, go watch the Dr. Who Confidential for each episode (after watching the episode). It's got some great behind the scenes footage and insight into the episodes, and really explains a lot of what went on with their first big American shoot, etc. But some of the little things in the show are awesome, like the Dr. giving Nixon a reason for recording every conversation. Great show, with great writing.
Here's something to consider Remember the empty ship looking for a crew last season in the episode The Lodger? Spoiler Remind you of the ship that River started dropping Silence on?
I've been a Doctor Who fan since I was 4-5 I am definitely still watching. I loved this season's 2-part opening. It was fantastic. The pirate episode was a fluff/filler episode. It's a fun little adventure but doesn't have a lot of bearing on the overall season or plot arcs. I was really interested with the fact that Steven Moffat said that there will be things in this season that won't be completely resolved until the end of next season. I am intrigued. I was really happy with Moffat taking over the writing, as he did write some of my favorite episodes of previous seasons of the new series. Russell T. Davies did a good job but the drama towards the end was getting almost overwhelming. I've been re-watching season 5 because of how many references to the Silence there are, and to the end of that season as well. It's been pretty cool. Right now I am fantastically excited for next week as Neil Gaiman is the writer of the episode and he is one of my favorite authors. The preview and clips look like it's going to be a good one. Spoiler tag for those who haven't seen the preview. Beware - major geek out ahead and reference to old series. Spoiler Alright first off, the box that the Doctor gets. Neil Gaiman said something about something/someone not seen since War Games which was the last episode of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. It's been a damn long time since I have watched that far back so I had to do some research on this and look what I found: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8T65RVQFyJk/T...OtlHI/s1600-h/6.4_pic04.5-TheWarGames[30].png Looks pretty similar the the box in the preview, and was used in a similar way I believe. (had to use link image tag wasn't working) Moving on... Who could the Time Lord be? I have had some lengthy discussions with a few of my other long term Who fans and we can't come up with anything concrete. Last we knew Romana was in E-space so it could be argued that she wasn't affected by the Time War (unless you count some of the spin-off material where she returned and became President of Gallifrey, which is pretty much not canon given that in End of Time Rassilon was alive and the President). Then there is Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. She ended up staying on Earth after falling in love with a human. She returned for the 20th anniversary in 1983 but as far as I remember she was still on Earth then as well. There have been vague references throughout the new series that his family is dead but we've been talking about all possibilities. It's also possible that it's someone that we've never seen before. I guess the only other thing was at the end of the trailer. Wtf Ood? Why is there an Ood with yellow/green evil eyes? I mean I can guess it has something to do with the yellow/green smoke and the evil voice but still. EDIT - Completely forgot to mention the Rani and the Valeyard. Credit goes to rei for pointing it out to me. The Rani would be an awesome idea. If that is her she seems to have gone a little more wonky than in the past. I mean she was always very obsessed with her research but don't remember her ever biting anyone ... I think I need to go into my Doctor Who vaults and find her episodes. I've been thinking about the Valeyard since the Dream Master appeared in Amy's Choice. I think that I've been so distracted lately theorizing on River Song that I've put some of my other theories on the back burner. Shame on me.
Alright I'm going to put this in spoiler tags just in case someone hasn't watched The Doctor's Wife yet Spoiler That was fantastic. All around a great episode. Gaiman's writing was wonderful and everyone performed so well. The twist of the Time Lord distress signals was well done, and I had not seen it coming, and the same goes with the TARDIS being the "Doctor's Wife." Honestly I can't think of anything that would have been more fitting. I have to admit that I actually got choked up at the end when she tells the Doctor "hello." It was perfect and sad. Rory and Amy's parts in the story were interesting as well, particularly during the hallucinations. I am definitely going to watch it again to give it a better analysis because right now I'm just feeling happy and satisfied.
Thoughts on new episode, in tags in case anyone hasn't seen it yet Spoiler Nice start of a two parter, and loved the ending. Saw that coming as soon as he put his hand in the damn stuff. That being said, made me think that maybe it's new flesh liquidy Doctor that gets killed at the beginning of the season? Just a random thought. It's still fairly unclear how the Flesh stuff works. Also, the way the Flesh looked in goop form reminded me of the little Adipose fat babies from season 4. Maybe the technology came from the Sontarans. All in all, I am definitely looking forward to next week (or the week after not sure if they're showing over Memorial Day). Or, maybe the Flesh Doctor could go a more Valeyard plotline way. At this point just spitting out ideas. Would love to know others' opinions.
Just watched the latest episode, and it was awesome. I remember reading a sci-fi short story along the same lines years ago, but can't remember who wrote it. I think it was in one of those monstrous yearly anthologies of short-stories. Even Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress touches on similar themes, albeit without the physical manifestations. Still, it really raised some very interesting questions about morality and the advancement of science and technology. This season of Dr. Who is one of the best, I'd say... great story telling, and the multi-episode arcs... all good.
Just watched the 2nd part to the show and it was really, really well done, and the mind-fuck at the end was awesome. I have to say that I think this is the best season of Dr. Who, ever.
I know I've been putting up a lot of Nerdist links lately, but Hardwick is a HUGE Dr. Who fan, and he had the new Doctor on last November, wherein they basically geeked out about the show for an hour. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.nerdist.com/2010/11/number-46-matt-smith/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nerdist.com/2010/11/number-46-matt-smith/</a>
Cool... thanks for the link. If you're really interested in the show, I highly recommend the Dr. Who. Confidential series that seems to be released simultaneously with the show. It's an hour long behind the scenes look at the taping of the show, with candid interviews, clips, and insight into the stories. Just be sure to watch it after the "real" episode, as they discuss a lot of spoilers.
So this is back. Does anyone get a Douglas Adams vibe from the Spoiler fact the Silence are searching for an ultimate, unknown question, and from the disposition of the guards inside the bodies?
I kept on thinking that is was very obvious that either the question is "Why?" or the answer is 42. Touching ep for The Doctor and River's relationship, though. I'd like to know more about how she was brainwashed, and see more of eyepatch lady in the future.
Same, I like the revelation on some of the Silence's nature, though my question is how they'll retcon the pattern on which the Doctor and River meet each other - maybe her views on that are only counting after Spoiler she starts identifying herself as River. I mean, she said they kept meeting each other in complete inverse order, but that's not totally possible as the Doctor still has more to learn about Song as River I assume. Also not convinced it was her in the spacesuit on the beach in Utah - she'd be crossing her own timestream to shoot at herself.