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 Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 5:36 am
Post anything which may spoil plot elements for new series episodes here. If there's something you're dying to discuss about the latest episode, or if you're worried about spoiling things for people who have yet to see any of the new series, this is the place for those posts.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 12:08 pm
I would also like to see people announce in the first line which episode/s they'll be discussing so we'll know if we can read it or not.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 6:49 am
Can you guys help me out please? I've seen the first of the two episode story, Rose, and I won't be able to see the second episode because I have tickets to see a Savion Glover show. Who are these disgusting farting aliens, where are they from? And how did the Doctor defeat them? Did they go home or has the British government killed them and dissected them for experimentation, etc? thanks.
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 7:43 am
Episode 5: World War Three
Oh, I just don't have the time or patcience to novelize the whole thing. But here's a synopsis.
The Doctor, Rose, and Reporter woman get locked in the sercurity council room. Because of Rose's mom hassling him about "Answer me one questions if you can, Is my daughter safe with you?" he hesitates to do what he can as the baby-faced fartsos summon their whole family. Also, Mickey and Rose's mom gets cornered by one of them as the Doctor is instructing them to do stuff over the phone. He narrows down rather quickly what race they must be and figures out vinegar kills them. It also becomes evidant that they want to bring on a nuclear winter so they can open a scrap sale on earth. The "Prime Minister" asks UN for the bomb codes so they can defend earth from the aliens. Although it endangers Rose, Doctor intructs Mickey to the UNIT website and gives him a code that allows him access to military missles (not nuclear ones, but still enough to level a couple of buildings.) The bomb hits just before UN calls with the codes. As they leave the rubble, Doctor realizes why Reporter woman's name was familiar. She's the next Prime Minister!
Rose Mum (What IS her name anyhow?) seems to be getting used to the idea and offers Rose to invite the Doctor over for Sheapard's Pie. The Doctor however, pulls a pissy fit and says something along the lines of "Well, stuff is happening and I'm leaving in an hour and that's that." ((Course, to me, I think he's being a meanie-moo there. He's a time lord! He could leave in ten years and it wouldn't make bloody much difference!))
Rose packs and leaves, with Mickey and Mum feeling abandoned and wondering when she'll ever come back this time.
Okies, thats mostly it! In a nutshell. I have Episode 6 DLed! Watching it tonight! ::sqee!:: xd
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 11:56 am
Episode 6: Dalek
Bear in mind this is the first time I've ever watched an episode of Doctor Who on its transmission date (it was technically after midnight in Britain when I did, but it was Saturday here), not counting the TV movie. This was also the first completed episode of the new series I've seen.
I've never seen a Dalek more sympathetic or more frightening than the one in this episode, nor have I seen the Doctor so frightening at times. The Dalek was right when it told him "You would make a good Dalek." It's amazing how intimidating a five-foot-tall pepperpot can be when properly shown/lit...... The Doctor's reaction to the Dalek when he first saw it was abject terror, which I don't think I've ever seen in the Doctor before. The fact that the Time War wiped out both Time Lords and Daleks may have had something to do with it, but it made sense for the setting. The Doctor then moved to hysterical, childish cruelty in his taunting of the Dalek when he discovered it couldn't hurt him. It was difficult to tell which was the villain at that point.
The Dalek's new abilities were impressive, though perhaps a bit too powerful; its ablity to absorb DNA(?) from anyone who touches its casing was odd to say the least; its absorbing power and regenerating its casing made more sense to this longtime fan. The ability to rotate the shoulder section makes perfect sense for Daleks (the speed at which it turned was terrifyingly fast); the internal force shield, not so much. As for its hover technology--it was worth the loss of one of the few sympathetic redshirts for the "E-LE-VATE" line. NEVER taunt a Dalek ^_- Seeing the Dalek use tatics to exterminate the ambush squad was amusing--with three shots it eliminated over a dozen guards (and a few out-of-their-element scientists with guns).
The Dalek and Rose made an interesting couple for the last part of the episode; her absorbed emotions confused the Dalek so it could not kill her, and she did her best to understand and reason with it (even going so far as to convince it not to exterminate Van Staaten, who deserved it). The scen with Rose and the exposed Dalek creature basking in the sunlight was beautiful (the creature itself being hideous, but that's beside the point). The juxtaposition of a calm Dalek and a homicidal Doctor made this work, and let the Doctor know exactly how badly he'd failed this time. Poor Rose was torn between her traveling companion and a lonely creature who just needed to be understood......
The human supporting cast were not nearly as impressive. Van Staaten was a one-note caricature, a low-rent Bond villain. Goddard was memorable only for her similarity to her boss in personality. Adam (I think that was his name) was entirely forgettable, like Adric without the annoyance factor to make him memorable. When the most sympathetic human character other than tthe Doctor's companion is a nameless guard, there's a problem.
That said, I enjoyed the episode immensely. It was well-plotted and very atmospheric, looking better than some American science-fiction productions. They took care to at least attempt to maintain continuity; the Cyberman helmet they used was supposed to be an "Invasion"-era one (unfortunately it was one which had been modified for "Revenge of the Cybermen" so had vacuum-cleaner hose handles and a four-barrel gun in its forehead), which would have been the most blatant Cyber-attack on Earth by that time ("Tenth Planet" mainly involving Antarctica, few-to-no Cybercorpses left from "Attack of the Cybermen", and a presumed coverup by the Seventh Doctor in "Silver Nemesis"). Yes, it was a bunch of concrete-and-brick halls, but that was acceptable given the bunker's established origins. As a great man once wrote, "little expense had been spared to make it look as though no expense had been spared".
In terms of acting, Nicholas Briggs and Billie Piper provided the most moving performances. The Dalek was by turns vulnerable, manipulative, autocratic, and reasonable, with Rose linking the Doctor and the Dalek with her concern for both. At the end, with the Doctor pointing the rifle at the defenseless Dalek creature, Rose didn't know who to sympathize with; through her obvious confusion neither did the audience. Not since the first season of Doctor Who has the companion (or companions) been the focus of the series; the new series, however, focuses firmly on Rose and her view of this strange visitor from another time. Rose is in many ways the main character of the series; her reactions to events reshape the Doctor's feelinigs--through her, he's learning to feel again. Whatever happened in the Time War has done a great deal of damage to his psyche; right now he needs Rose to help hiim learn all the things he's lost.
If "Dalek" is what Doctor Who for the 21st century is, it's got a long future ahead of it.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 12:29 am
Episode six, Dalek-Yay =D Mendou The human supporting cast were not nearly as impressive. Van Staaten was a one-note caricature, a low-rent Bond villain. Goddard was memorable only for her similarity to her boss in personality. Adam (I think that was his name) was entirely forgettable, like Adric without the annoyance factor to make him memorable. When the most sympathetic human character other than tthe Doctor's companion is a nameless guard, there's a problem. Whilst I agree that Adam's a total c***d and, God willing, going to get vaporised by Simon Pegg next week I don't think the characterisation was all that bad, really. Sure Van Staaten was rent-a-villain but hey, at least he did it well enough to make us Earthlings look bad again, which was clearly the point. The confrontation between him and the Dalek once it got free was immense, though, and his final comeuppance was fitting at least. Overcharacterisation could well have detracted from the point of the very episode, anyways, I feel. It wasn't about us...it was about an alien that's very far from home and completely out of its depth in a world of humanity. Mendou At the end, with the Doctor pointing the rifle at the defenseless Dalek creature, Rose didn't know who to sympathize with; through her obvious confusion neither did the audience. And finally the purpose of Christopher Ecclestone's rather...odd...character comes into play. I've been wondering when they'd get around to sorting out that rather callous streak of his-he's been letting far too many people die and using far too little of his brain up till now, I feel. A good example of which would be in this episode itself when he was willing to leave Rose to her fate at the hands of a Dalek so easily. Do come on now, he's the doctor, remember BBC? He's always been above such things before but alas regeneration seems to have done something peculiar to the poor fellow. It's like being back in the Colin Baker era again...I'm just worried in one series we won't have time to work out enough of his personality. Ah well. Oh yes, and as my flat mate pointed out whilst watching the show...if the Dalek could fly why did it waste time taking the human way up the staircase when it could have just elevated up the middle? Downloading the internet must have rotted its brain, clearly =D
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 9:11 pm
Jettrick Episode six, Dalek-Yay =D Mendou The human supporting cast were not nearly as impressive. Van Staaten was a one-note caricature, a low-rent Bond villain. Goddard was memorable only for her similarity to her boss in personality. Adam (I think that was his name) was entirely forgettable, like Adric without the annoyance factor to make him memorable. When the most sympathetic human character other than tthe Doctor's companion is a nameless guard, there's a problem. Whilst I agree that Adam's a total c***d and, God willing, going to get vaporised by Simon Pegg next week I don't think the characterisation was all that bad, really. Sure Van Staaten was rent-a-villain but hey, at least he did it well enough to make us Earthlings look bad again, which was clearly the point. The confrontation between him and the Dalek once it got free was immense, though, and his final comeuppance was fitting at least. Overcharacterisation could well have detracted from the point of the very episode, anyways, I feel. It wasn't about us...it was about an alien that's very far from home and completely out of its depth in a world of humanity. You do have a point; if the humans had been more interesting it would have taken the spotlight away from the Dalek, which wouldn't do at all. It's just that only the likeable throwaway humans got killed; we got stuck with a jerk, a shrew, and a flake...... Jettrick Mendou At the end, with the Doctor pointing the rifle at the defenseless Dalek creature, Rose didn't know who to sympathize with; through her obvious confusion neither did the audience. And finally the purpose of Christopher Ecclestone's rather...odd...character comes into play. I've been wondering when they'd get around to sorting out that rather callous streak of his-he's been letting far too many people die and using far too little of his brain up till now, I feel. A good example of which would be in this episode itself when he was willing to leave Rose to her fate at the hands of a Dalek so easily. Do come on now, he's the doctor, remember BBC? He's always been above such things before but alas regeneration seems to have done something peculiar to the poor fellow. It's like being back in the Colin Baker era again...I'm just worried in one series we won't have time to work out enough of his personality. Ah well. Oh yes, and as my flat mate pointed out whilst watching the show...if the Dalek could fly why did it waste time taking the human way up the staircase when it could have just elevated up the middle? Downloading the internet must have rotted its brain, clearly =D He's come close in places; "Warriors of the Deep" and "Resurrection of the Daleks" come to mind. He also didn't seem too broken up by "the final end" in "Evil of the Daleks" or by the destruction of Mondas in "The Tenth Planet". Nor did it bother his conscience too much to use the Hand of Omega to eliminate the Daleks ("Remembrance") or the Nemesis to wipe out the Cybermen ("Silver Nemesis"). However, his willingness to sacrifice Rose goes a bit beyond the depths of darkness he reached in the earlier series. He could also be shell-shocked by the Time War, which no doubt devastated him (losing one's entire race can do that). Hopefully by the end of the series Rose will have him at least a bit better adjusted--until his regeneration throws everything off again ^_^ As for the Dalek hovering up the stairs rather than through the center of the stairwell, meybe it didn't feel there was enough room to comfortably aim that way? Alternatively, maybe it can only hover up to ten feet or so off the ground, and 53 levels would have been too much......
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 12:02 am
Episode 2-The End of the World
Woooo! What can I say, I liked this episode =D After all that tension of waiting for them to do something drastically wrong in the first episode this was much easier to watch-plus it helped that they went back to basics for a good old romp around a spaceship here. You get all your classic Who ingredients-the claustrophobic isolation of the spacestation, the doctor's assistant spending most of the episode locked up and facing inevitable death, a farfetched plot that inevitably means everyone's at risk of being vaporised (just why are they sitting that close to a supernova with such laughable security, anyways?) and, most importantly of all...lashings of rubber-suited aliens. They really went to town in the wardrobe department here and it made the whole thing that much more a pleasure to watch. Hopefully we haven't seen the last of the likes of the Forest of Cheam and the Mox, because it'd be nice to learn more about them in the future. Or the past, even o.O
Given the time constraints on the programme and the need to get all the aliens showcased rather than advance the plot I felt the episode moved rather a little too quickly at times-and as for the resolution...well to be fair it was a bit sucky in my honest opinion. First the Doctor leads the only especially flammable alien on board to her death, then it turns out he didn't really need her after all. Bit of a cop out, really. Other than that no gripes though, and the dialogue between Rose and Cassandra was perfectly pitched to make the new girl look like a shining bastion of humanity and the self-obsessed last human a, what was it? Oh yes...a bitchy trampoline =D The writers must posesss a rather cynical outlook of life if they truly feel that's where we're headed though...and correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't this episode technically teach us the Doctor is ultimately responsible for the destruction of humankind? Tsk tsk, you can't let him near an alien species without wiping it out these days really, can you?
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 6:44 am
Episode 6 - "Dalek" Questions raised by my brother, and good ones at that:- Quote: Interesting how Van Straten, the collector of so many alien artifacts, had no idea who The Doctor was, or the significance of the TARDIS. Also a bit of a surprise that the boy-scientist-new assistant didn't make any connections either... My thoughts on this: Something to do with the female that took over at the end? Is she perhaps more than she seems...? Quote: If it was 2012, or whenever, there are surely Daleks still around. They still have to invade Earth in 2150AD, after all... My thoughts: Does the Time War have some lasting effects throughout the timeline?
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 6:50 am
Jettrick Episode 2-The End of the World ...and correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't this episode technically teach us the Doctor is ultimately responsible for the destruction of humankind? Tsk tsk, you can't let him near an alien species without wiping it out these days really, can you? Well, at least he's not Commander John Koenig from "Space 1999" - he was definitely guilty of numerous counts of genocide, mainly to rescue his girlfriend... wink
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 7:12 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 10:09 am
Episode 7: The Long Game
Whoo hoo! Hey, If I were Rose, I'd be like "I've got to get myself a boyfriend who won't cry, faint, or throw up when something unexspected happens!" s**t, I'm supprised no one hasn't pissed themselves just yet.
"Whee, I have a door into my brain! Look it's soft and squishy!" thogh, I have to admit, the bit of forzen barf was a neat idea. I hate getting sick...
So while watching, I ask my infinatly more Who experianced hubby if this one is as much as a twit as Aderic was. He said Aderic was worse. HOW did anyone keep him around for any amount of time then?
Well, this episode doesn't rank as a favorite, but it was pretty damn niffty. The NEXT one look cool!
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 12:49 pm
7 - The Long Game
ANY episode that comes immediately after "Dalek" is bound to have a real fight on its hands, and this one was KO'ed in the early rounds. The "spike-port" was a very nice idea, and the snap-your-fingers thing was fun, but there wasn't a whole lot else to get really excited about.
I'm starting to wonder if this Doctor is stuck "on" Earth, in much the same way as the Jon Pertwee Doctor. We haven't seen any other planets yet, just Earth and space-stations in orbit, although other planets and places have been mentioned as unseen destinations. Could it be that the Time War has had a more devastating effect on the universe than we've been told...?
Overall: C+ / B-
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 7:40 am
Ep 7-The Long Game
Before we start, am I the only one who thinks The Time War's not a new invention just for this season? Didn't it kind of...happen in the mythology of the doctor already? I know I certainly wasn't surprised by its mention but...then again there were a lot of time wars xD I just figured the one with the Daleks had already happened and wasn't really connected with this series specifically..oh and they're holding out on the alien worlds because they can. They need to have something in the can for the end of the series after all...besides the Dalek army of course and Bad Wolf...*shifty eyes* Rumours are fun xD
This episode didn't really work for me so much...I felt they should have made it a two parter and fleshed out the charecterisation some more-bringing in the Jagrafess as the cliffhanger on the first would've been neat. For a malevolent alien intelligence who enslaved an empire he sure went down easy too...leading to a pretty unsatisfying climax in my opinion. Simon Pegg got some great moments on screen but, again, he was harmed by being sandwiched between about a billion plot strands going off at once so we didn't see enough of him. Nice if he turned up again sometime, although doesn't really look like he will O_o
It was good of them to drop faceless humanoid Adam/Alan/Adric clone but they handled it rather rashly it felt to me-so Doctor and the Rose came off as looking like a bunch of haughty elitists who weren't willing to throw the kid a bone. So he tried to make himself the smartest guy alive...they found him archiving alien technology in secret underground lair. THE KID LIKES FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, OKAY? You think they'd have seen that. Instead they just left him to do his own thing and then kicked him out...presumably because he was getting between the Doctor and Rose's 'relationship' which is getting to predictably creepy levels now. Bad BBC stop that now it's getting redundant.
Oh and while I'm here might as well comment on next week's trailer...why on Earth does tampering with history cause trouble all of a sudden? They tamper with history every week, dammit >.< If it wasn't for Rose the doctor would have died in the opening episode and now she's not allowed to save her Dad? They better explain this one well or I'll have more ranting for the BBC next week. Just they try and go for the cheap 'he's supposed to die then' answer <.<
Oh and anyone got any clue at all why this episode was actually called 'The Long Game'? Couldn't figure it out personally biggrin
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 9:19 pm
I really liked Dalek a lot. i thought it was probably the best Dalek story since Genesis of the Daleks. In a way, I was thinking perhaps the Dalek would be the new companion. After all, it asked the doctor for orders. I know it would be ripping off the Star Trek: Voyager 6 of 9 story line and it would be a bit much to die hard Dr Who fans.
Doesn't the new companion, if he is that, remind you guys of Adric a little bit. I swear that's the first thought I had as soon as i saw him.
I'm sorry, but i'm not reading about the next episode until I watch it on TV and then I can talk about it.
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