Doctor Who

[fightingirish]

Good news for fans of the original series that have access to the Retro TV network (some local stations in the US carry it on their subchannels). They just obtained broadcast rights.

www.myretrotv.com/news/-retro-tv-si...-classic-doctor-who-to-its-programming-lineup

 

[speedlever]

I don't know about you guys but I think this universal remote control looks awesome:

Sonic Screwdriver Universal Remote Control


It's a sonic screwdriver which controls all your stuff and it's gesture-based.

You can have 10th or 11th Doctor versions.

Awesome!

Ouch. $100 US. Still, pretty cool.

 

[Xyro]

The 23rd of August, to be exact.

BBC One - Doctor Who, Doctor Who, Series 8 Teaser: Am I a good man?

 

[sammyz]

There were leaks of the Season 8 scripts all over the internet.

 

[Hadron]

There's a second teaser trailer (but as I'm in fringe coverage I'm not going to try to post a link).

 

[Hadron]

OK, forget teasers, a 1 minute series trailer was shown yesterday (as a reward to those who'd sat through the first half of the football ):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TivqZTq5u6Y

 

[sammyz]

I have seen two Doctor Who fans in my current device's forum (LG L70). I'm so happy right now.

 

[NightAngel79]

I just caught the first half of the special showing how it all started. Really interesting stuff in there, I assume it's all factual? (with some dramatization of course)

 

[speedlever]

My Whovian daughter told me that the US season premier is going to be shown in theaters on 8/25/14.

Yes, we plan to go!

 

[NightAngel79]

The most important leaf in all of human history.

 

[NightAngel79]

I just caught the first half of the special showing how it all started. Really interesting stuff in there, I assume it's all factual? (with some dramatization of course)

Finally caught all of that special.

An Adventure in Space and Time it was called.

Really good special from last year about the making of the first season

 

[scary alien]

The most important leaf in all of human history.

Yep!

Can't wait for tonight! My daughter's back in town and my son will be here, too, to watch the new season premier with the new Doctor .

 

[Slug]

I assume it's all factual? (with some dramatization of course)

Very much so, yes.

 

[NightAngel79]

Very much so, yes.

Figured, really cool watching it. Especially since I'm relatively new to the Dr

I did notice that the lady that plays Verity was in an episode of Dr who last season.

 

[SipDude]

I have seen two Doctor Who fans in my current device's forum (LG L70). I'm so happy right now.

Make that 3 fans. although I do have the Moto G. Hope all is well Sammy.

-A former Motion owner.

 

[EarlyMon]

That's all for now...

Except that the new Doctor is outstanding so far.

 

[psionandy]

Ok.. I hate to be Mr Grumpy... but I didn't like it.

I'm not even sure if I was supposed to, In fact I'm pretty sure that its part of the plan that I don't.

Now, this is a 'first appearance' episode, and traditionally the doctor is 'erratic' and behaves out of character, but all the way through I just didn't like it.

A as the episode went on, I kept being drawn to Clara's lines of dialogue, about the Doctor and not knowing who he was, him not being the Doctor and not liking him etc...

Its almost as if they've deliberately made a point of rubbing me up the wrong way.

Now I've been wrong before, and I know if their doing this they probably have something amazing planned for the later episodes... I'm thoroughly expecting to have been tricked and Capalidi to be an awesome Doctor. But if I ever watch this episode again I'll be surprised

 

[EarlyMon]

I completely enjoyed it and was surprised that an article described exactly what I saw - he channeled Tom Baker in a number of places. I also saw a bit of John Pertwee coming through.

Reviews are certainly mixed, ours are probably representative of the two opposites.

Spoiler, don't click unless you've seen the first episode -

Spoiler

I'm glad that we've moved beyond the boy-band charming clown type and on to the morally ambiguous agent who more personifies looking like one of us but not being one of us.

The Doctor isn't human. Neither are Vestra, Strax and a host of others who have often been anthropomorphized.

What did he say when he poured the robot a drink? Basically - I'm going to kill you. And who would offer the robot a drink in the first place?

I also found it interesting that they've pegged him at over 2000 years old, yet Smith was 700 to 800 when River was the astronaut.

And we can finally dispense with the companion being a cheeky love interest.

Eight hundred, two thousand, doesn't matter, a twenty or thirty or forty-something isn't going to be the oh the so great Donnaphonic, the gee whiz if only you could choose Amy, or anything else a twenty or thirty-something human male would say - to a Time Lord, they'd all be be the same thing - a dial tone.

The Missy witch may prove interesting.

And we may yet learn if Clara is human.

Everyone seems amazed that he speaks dinosaur. Ummmm... TARDIS... translation thing... works on every other species across time... so where's the mystery in that? I thoroughly enjoyed the chat with the horse.

 

[agentc13]

Ok.. I hate to be Mr Grumpy... but I didn't like it.

I'm not even sure if I was supposed to, In fact I'm pretty sure that its part of the plan that I don't.

Now, this is a 'first appearance' episode, and traditionally the doctor is 'erratic' and behaves out of character, but all the way through I just didn't like it.

A as the episode went on, I kept being drawn to Clara's lines of dialogue, about the Doctor and not knowing who he was, him not being the Doctor and not liking him etc...

Its almost as if they've deliberately made a point of rubbing me up the wrong way.

Now I've been wrong before, and I know if their doing this they probably have something amazing planned for the later episodes... I'm thoroughly expecting to have been tricked and Capalidi to be an awesome Doctor. But if I ever watch this episode again I'll be surprised

Did you watch before Matt Smith (or David Tennant)?
If not, I completely understand why you feel that way if the only Doctor(s) you know are young and flirty. In fact, I feel many (not necessarily you) are in that boat. I feel most will always love their first doctor most, but I love the fact that he changes (sometimes drastically, and maybe even not into a he).
If you did, maybe he just rubbed you the wrong way so far. Like you said, it can take an episode or two for a new Doctor to really get into the groove and show his personality completely. Maybe you really won't care for him at all, but one of the great things about the show is that the dynamics change fairly often (either new Doctor, or new companion(s)) so you don't have to suffer it for too long if you aren't happy.

While I don't agree with you, I can understand. I hope he grows on you because I feel like he's going to be just what I wanted.

I completely enjoyed it and was surprised that an article described exactly what I saw - he channeled Tom Baker in a number of places. I also saw a bit of John Pertwee coming through.

Reviews are certainly mixed, ours are probably representative of the two opposites.

Yes, I was so ready to be done with Matt Smith. I really enjoyed his regeneration, but the young silly flirty Doctor stuff was getting quite old to me. I think it was just the fact that the last two were pretty similar and some of the things that were fun/cute to start just wore thin on me. I was hoping to get an older, darker, and more gruff Doctor. I feel like Capaldi is going to fit the bill most excellently.

Spoiler

Side note, I thought John Hurt as the war doctor was absolutely awesome and was hoping for something similar for #12, this is not too far from my wishes

I think this one will make me pretty happy.

Spoilers!

Spoiler

I'm glad that we've moved beyond the boy-band charming clown type and on to the morally ambiguous agent who more personifies looking like one of us but not being one of us.

The Doctor isn't human. Neither are Vestra, Strax and a host of others who have often been anthropomorphized.

What did he say when he poured the robot a drink? Basically - I'm going to kill you. And who would offer the robot a drink in the first place?

Yes, exactly my feelings. I always loved when the Doctors would show the alien-ness of their personality and hope to see more of it. I also have to say that even though it seemed to shove it in our face, I loved the fact that they were very forward about Vestra/Jenny and even had them kiss (in a way) was lovely. Although, it didn't surprise me from this show, it's refreshing when so many other forms of media in America try to be more ambiguous about it.

Pouring the drink! OMG, loved that so much... (really the whole restaurant part really, but that was a very subtle yet revealing scene.

I also found it interesting that they've pegged him at over 2000 years old, yet Smith was 700 to 800 when River was the astronaut.

Was this mostly time spent defending the town for ages on Trenzalor during the christmas special? That's how I figured it made sense.

And we can finally dispense with the companion being a cheeky love interest.

Eight hundred, two thousand, doesn't matter, a twenty or thirty or forty-something isn't going to be the oh the so great Donnaphonic, the gee whiz if only you could choose Amy, or anything else a twenty or thirty-something human male would say - to a Time Lord, they'd all be be the same thing - a dial tone.

YES!!!

The Missy witch may prove interesting.

And we may yet learn if Clara is human.

I am excited to see how this works out. Intriguing...


I also felt like the call from #11, felt a bit forced as I thought Clara wouldn't need that. Probably was put in there for the newer folks that haven't known another Doctor (I have a couple extended family members in that boat), yet even so it was done well.

All in all, I am ready and excited for more!

Dalek out!
:dalek:

 

[Hadron]

I'm conscious that US Cinema viewers won't have seen this yet, so although I'll probably not discuss plot in any detail I'm going to use hide tags.

Also I recall that some views in Tapatalk (such as "unread posts") don't respect hide tags, but these couple of lines of preamble should be enough to prevent problems there.

Spoiler

To start with Early's question about the Doctor's age, I think Matt's Doctor was slightly older than that to start with, but he also had some extended periods off-screen. I recall in one of his catch-ups with River he was quite a bit older than he'd been previously. I don't know how long he spent sulking after losing Amy and Rory, but as I remember his last story he actually spent many centuries of his time-line defending Trenzalore (even if it was a few minutes to us). So I think the 2,000 year figure could well add up, though I'd have guessed upper teens (centuries) myself .

As for the episode itself, as a story it didn't match The Eleventh Hour (Matt Smith's debut) IMO, but then the point was introducing the Doctor rather than the actual plot. It did introduce a couple of possible longer-term plot themes, and I'm actually more interested in whether they'll do anything with the Doctor's speculation about why he has that particular face than the one that's getting more comment.

I did find the writing a bit defensive in places. The companion is often supposed to embody audience's perspective, and here they were clearly worried about whether part of the audience will handle an older-looking Doctor. The problem I had with it from a dramatic point of view is that this is the one companion, apart from Susan, who should be least phased by what's happened, because she has seen all of the Doctor's past selves. But maybe she doesn't remember that very well, or maybe it's a different matter when it happens to "your" Doctor in front of you, so I'll give them a bye on that.

So, the Doctor himself. I'll take my impressions from the second half, after the manic/amnesiac phase was beginning to die down. I saw a more reflective, more self-critical Doctor there. He's literally been given a new start (a new regeneration cycle) and seems to be starting to question his life. Personally I'm fine with this: good as Tennent was, the thing I liked least about his Doctor was a tendency towards self-righteous certainty, so a Doctor who questions his own actions (including, if I caught one little aside right, his attitude to some of his companions) is one I'm happy to see. But he also has an acid tongue, a willingness to get physical, and more menace than either of his immediate predecessors could manage. Popping veins and bared teeth followed a few minutes later by a display of vulnerability. It remains to be seen where they'll take it, but I'm not worried about Peter's ability to handle the role.

Did love the expression on his face when the robot lowered the mirror, and you could briefly see that he'd been considering how his words applied to him as well as it. And the allusion to the end of "The World's End" (Eccleston's second episode) in the way the story finished.

 

[EarlyMon]

That does it.

I always think that I can start a new season without refreshers.

Off to watch some Eccleston...

Spoiler

As for Clara knowing multiple Doctors - what about her frequent deaths? She's never been given to being self-aware.

Besides - which Clara is this really?

And I'll bet that answer will bring questions as well.

 

[Slug]

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute because I kept seeing echoes of previous incarnations in this one. He had #2's unnerving mix of comedy and ruthlessness, #3's dash and panache, the underlying darkness of #9, the world-weariness of #12... yet he appears very much his own person too.

Spoiler

My favourite LOL moment? "At last... someone who speaks properly!" when Vastra slips into her (or rather Ms MacIntosh's) native accent.

Oh yes, and Strax (yet again) stole the show.

 

[brotherswing]

I need to watch it a few more times WITHOUT a screaming toddler underfoot. I know I missed more than half of the dialogue.

 

[Xyro]

Spoiler

I did find the writing a bit defensive in places. The companion is often supposed to embody audience's perspective, and here they were clearly worried about whether part of the audience will handle an older-looking Doctor. The problem I had with it from a dramatic point of view is that this is the one companion, apart from Susan, who should be least phased by what's happened, because she has seen all of the Doctor's past selves. But maybe she doesn't remember that very well, or maybe it's a different matter when it happens to "your" Doctor in front of you, so I'll give them a bye on that.

Spoiler

It seems Moffat spends half his time nowadays reading Tumblr and writing what he thinks will placate them. The first time it stood out to me was in the most recent series of Sherlock:

Spoiler

The cliffhanger at the end of series 2 was Sherlock jumping, seemingly, to his death. The first episode of series 3 was fairly light on actual plot, and very heavy on each of the characters suggesting their take on how he survived - each based on popular theories at the time. When we got to the theory that included Sherlock and Moriarty kissing, it really seemed like tumblr-fan service for the sake of an interesting story.

Whilst I did enjoy that episode, I think when you've only got 3 episodes per series it's a waste of time.

I thought the phone call at the end of Doctor Who crossed a similar line. The Doctor reminding Clara (and himself) that he "is not [her] boyfriend" seemed a good way to address the matter. To add the phone call on top seemed to be directly speaking to the fans and saying "Yeah, the Doctor isn't an attractive young man any more - you'll get used to it". It just lacked any subtly and was too self aware for my liking.

 

[EarlyMon]

Is that the paper?

:rofl: