Sir_Crocodile
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I loved Smith and Jones.
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Doctor Who Off-Season | Hey Missy, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind
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I loved Smith and Jones.
Robots of Sherwood is really unappreciated. It's so FUN.
Partners is Crime was awesome, IMHO. It was just super fun.
I always forget that New Earth was the season 2 opener because The Christmas Invasion feels like it should be the Season 2 opener instead. It wasn't the best episode they've ever done, but it was entertaining, especially Tennent and Piper both trying to play Cassandra.
Rose was in that part of the series where RTD was really trying to play up the "mystery" of the Doctor, which I love, but seems silly in retrospect.
Don't really care for Smith and Jones, but then, I also don't really like Martha, so.
If I'm remembering correctly, the 11th doctor was originally going to be cast as a man in the middle of his life, so 40s or 50s. Then Smith came along and was so good that they changed their plans.
APZonerunner
Member
The thing I'll say about RTD's openers is that they were all a little bit nuts and different and never really did what Moffat has always done, which is a broad statement of "this is what the show is generally speaking".
What I mean by this is -- Rose obviously introduces the whole show, but then if you look at what comes next every year it's very similar;
New Earth has this strange (and awesome, I think) thread through it of the slapstick comedy that really makes the absolute most of Tennant and Piper both, who are brilliant in it. This is especially strange and brave, as Tennant spends a good half of his full first episode as the Doctor being incredibly campy and wussy when he's possessed by Cassandra. This is doubly brave when you consider that he's also asleep for 40 minutes of The Christmas Invasion, so basically you don't really see his Doctor in full until Tooth and Claw, and yet somehow it still works. I think this is otherwise a pretty boring/run of the mill story with a messy conclusion, but Tennant and Piper as Cassandra make it float and make it one I'd never skip a rewatch of.
Smith and Jones is the closest to a traditional romp, but even that's unique as a series opener (equal to Rose) in that it really is Martha's episode, not the Doctor's. (The Eleventh Hour looks like it'll be like this briefly, but then becomes entirely about him). The fact there's no pre-titled sequence; RTD viewed it as a fresh start akin with 'Rose', and the focus on Martha is kept throughout, it's all from her perspective. I generally think this is one of the finest episodes of New Who as well in terms of a standalone romp.
Partners in Crime rounds it out by edging back towards where New Earth was by being an out-and-out comedy. Even the way the villain dies (tractor beam is turned off, she hovers in mid-air, looks down in fear, then plummets to her death) is straight out of a cartoon.
Obviously all these have the thread of adventure, but they're all much less clear-cut swashbuckling adventures than The Eleventh Hour, The Impossible Astronaut, Asylum of the Daleks, The Bells of Saint John or Deep Breath are. To that end I've always thought Moffat has played it safer with his openers, which is A-OK as well, obviously.
Anyway, my point is I guess, I always thought RTD's openers were fairly brave; from the decision to focus on Martha when the wound from Rose was nationally pretty deep (god, Rose made the front page of The Sun the day after Doomsday aired! This is something I think that might be more difficult for newer fans or non-Brits to realize, but part of the reason that character kept coming back is that she - and Billie - became a national sensation after Who for a while there) to going for a comedy note in New Earth so early for Tennant, etc. RTD was always big on this stuff, though; I'm still astounded there's so little of the new Doctor in The Christmas Invasion, and that he got away with it... but again, that was sort of carried by how big Piper was after all her accolades for Series 1. It never could've worked with any other the others since.
paradox121
Member
Has there been any word on a Doctor Who Extra/Confidential series for this year? I mean, they were mostly pants, but they're always a nice after-meal palette cleanser.
bearythebear
Member
So is Missy going to be a Companion this season? That would be pretty fun.
APZonerunner
Member
Really, the most logical explanation for this is in fact that the Doctor knows due to the predestination paradox precisely what he and River do on their final 'date' AND that the next time they meet he will be in his 10th incarnation, and it'll therefore be the first for him. He wouldn't want to confuse or spoil his younger self, so he jimmied together a screwdriver for her that has some of the new features he later added (the red settings, etc) but in the shell the 10th Doctor would be familiar with, understand, & not question.
The Magician's Apprentice spoiler-free reviews:
Digital Spy
Den of geek
Cultbox
Blogtor
Sounds good!
...
10 teasers for The Magician's Apprentice.
Digital Spy
Den of geek
Cultbox
Blogtor
Sounds good!
...
10 teasers for The Magician's Apprentice.
aHebrewMenagerie
Member
I'm guessing the cliffhanger will be The Doctor
is
.
finding out that kid from the trailer
Davros
CloudyTuba
Member
Since it looks like the 10th Doctor's screwdriver except really messed up and haphazardly patched back together with extra features, I always figured it was the same screwdriver that got broken in The Eleventh Hour. He used that as the base and rebuilt it.
EvilRedEye
Member
New Torchwood audio announcement is interesting. If those two are being bundled together that leaves more empty character 'slots' for the first series. Cast seems quite large for that one as well.
StealthGoblin
Banned
The synopsis for the Witches familiar is very interesting.
May even hark back to those rumours about Davros
Surprised that I liked Listen even more on rewatch than I did when I first saw it. It kind of wanders around for a bit not sure of what it wants to be, and in the end a literal reading of the episode makes it seem like it's just the doctor being randomly delusional, but I think this time Clara's speech at the end really clicked for me and it sort of justifies the whole thing. I think the only way it could be improved is if there had been some stronger motivation behind the Doctor wanting to look for the "creature with perfect hiding" beyond finding himself talking out loud, but it's ok.
It's frustrating that the rest of the season and its finale pretty completely ignore Orson Pink's existence though; whatever was said about him probably belonging to some other branch of Danny's family is the most blatant and unsatisfying hand waving there is, specially with the heavy hinting at time-traveling being a part of his family and whatnot. On the other hand I can't think of anyway of resolving it without some crazy moffatism I'd probably be pissed about.
Also, I don't remember. Did it ever get established on some Q&A or something if the barn at the end is in Gallifrey?
It's frustrating that the rest of the season and its finale pretty completely ignore Orson Pink's existence though; whatever was said about him probably belonging to some other branch of Danny's family is the most blatant and unsatisfying hand waving there is, specially with the heavy hinting at time-traveling being a part of his family and whatnot. On the other hand I can't think of anyway of resolving it without some crazy moffatism I'd probably be pissed about.
Also, I don't remember. Did it ever get established on some Q&A or something if the barn at the end is in Gallifrey?
It's the one the War Doctor is in for The Day Of The Doctor when readying The Moment; that's actually mentioned in the episode, IIRC. I personally took its precise location as 'some moon of Gallifrey', but it could easily be on the planet itself.
I know it's the same barn. It'd just be weird if Clara failed to mention they went to Gallifrey to the Doctor eventually
Anyway, onto Time Heist: Basically great concept, average execution. I love the plot, the scenes before the opening are great (I love how the Doctor asks what could go wrong before grabbing the phone and the next instant he lets of go the memory worm), the characters are ok and it has some decent twists. It just fells so budget-ish; the safest bank in the universe apparently has a security force that consists on no more than 5 guards and it takes them like half an hour to move between floors/locations, all of which look the same (which is to say, painfully empty) but with different color lightning. Also, human-sized vents with "no trespassing" signs.
It would have been so cool if instead the episode had been much more stealthy, with the group having to constantly elude what could have looked like an army, or if they had done more social engineering with the Doctor's wit and the mutant's shapeshifting powers to get from place to place.
Is the TV show basically dead at this point?
In the world of Doctor Who nothing is dead forever, but yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it's over. From what I recall the last season was received pretty badly, and was quite expensive to make (lots of location shooting in the US, some bigger guest stars, etc). I also don't think the show is quite as relevant to the main DW show anymore, compared to the Tennant-years. In television-terms too much time has passed, I think. And the show got 4 seasons, which isn't bad at all for a modern television show.
I can see BBC America being interested in funding another spinoff, but I think it'll be something new that ties into the show as it is now a bit more. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jack turn up in the show at some point in the future, but I honestly think Torchwood's new life will be purely at Big Finish at this point.
It's worth mentioning that the show was never officially cancelled though - the show stopped because RTD had to take care of his husband when he became ill. Still, considering how much time has passed I think the opportunity to continue with it has passed as well.
SigmasonicX
Member
Plus, you know, the lead actor has broken into the American TV world. Barrowman still seems willing, but his schedule was too busy for "A Good Man Goes to War" and he may be out of BBC's price range.
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