Doctor Who

[Joanna]

STEP BACK IN TIME (Thanks for the link, Laura!)

xx Joanna xx

PS: MORE MARTHA!

 

[Strawbs]

When his ring was pinched (not in a dirty way) from his burning carcass, wasn't that not the hand of the woman who shot him? I assumed it was. anyway are we going to have a female Master next?

A bit Flash Gordon (and Star Wars) at the end but perfectly sets up a plot device for the next series.

The Master did have a female Time Lord cohort back in the old series, so maybe she'll return. Who knows?

Who knows! Ha...please yourselves.

As for Captain Jack - well I have to admit, it never crossed my mind about that one. In previous episode he said something quite cryptic to The Doctor, I think it was in the "Daleks in Manhatten" episode, did his tank get smashed and then he said something just before he died? I cant remember, I'm rubbish!

As has been mentioned, that was Gridlock. Of course that put things to rest in The Doctor's mind because he couldn't get his head round the fact that someone existed that couldn't die. Now he knows that Jack/The Face Of Boe will die one day.

Catherine Tate will be his companion for series 4. Not wholly sure how that'll work out. I was rather hoping for a hot bloke or someone NOT from the present day. Ahh well.

Strawbs

 

[Cop]

I'm not a big fan of Catherine Tate - I don't like her show either. I would rather see Tate in Torchwood rather than Freema Whatsherface.

But mind you I didn't like the Martha character at first

 

[Strawbs]

Martha pretty much came into her own in the latter half of the series. I think Freema and her character will do well in torchwood and series 4 when she returns.

I like some of CT's stuff (the gran character is one of the best comic creations ever) but I'm really on the back heel as far as her returning to Doctor Who as a full time character. Donna should've stayed as a one off.

Strawbs

 

[Gorf]

I'm not a "fan" of the new series, but if I'm channel hopping and come across it when it's just starting, I'll watch it. The one with Anthony Head as the headmaster had my 7-year-old son in tears (not for the creatures, but when K9 sacrificed himself), but the one that made the hairs on the back of my head stand up was the girl who drew people and they disappeared into their drawings. Probably the cheapest effect from any of the series - and the best.

 

[Strawbs]

Funny you mention Anthony Head as I met him yesterday. He signed an autograph for me with a happy birthday greeting. He's such a lovely bloke.

The best story of the new Doctor Who so far for me has to be Human Nature, when The Doctor became human and was an Edwardian teacher.

 

[Rach]

I'm not a big fan of Catherine Tate - I don't like her show either. I would rather see Tate in Torchwood rather than Freema Whatsherface.
But mind you I didn't like the Martha character at first

Yeah I am worrying how Tate will fit into the series. her character really annoyed me in the christmas eppy. I don't know why Martha is only doing half the series... I think she is excellent!!!!

 

[LovelyLaura]

This post contains spoilers for the first episode of the 4th series

So....the 4th series has started

I thought it was a really good episode today and I was pleasantly surprised by Catherine Tate....I love her sketch show but she thoroughly annoyed me as Donna in The Runaway Bride so I wasn't particularly looking forward to Donna returning. But they seem to have toned down the character a lot and I actually found myself warming to her more and more as the episode progressed (although she did seem to go into Derek "how very dare you" mode at one stage lol!). And I think it makes a change to have a companion who isn't in love with The Doctor!! I think Catherine and David work well together and have a good on screen chemistry too.

So, all in all, I think it was a promising start to the new series.

Of course though, the BEST thing about the episode was the Rose cameo!! I knew she was gonna be back later in the series but I had no idea she was gonna feature in the first episode! I was well shocked. When Rose appeared and you just saw her from behind, I was thinking that she looked like Rose from the back lol....and then I was like, OMG it IS Rose!!!

Laura xx

 

[Joanna]

Yeah, I enjoyed it too. Best not to look too closely at the 'science' of it, but thought it worked well as both a reintroduction to Donna and to the Doctor's and Donna's reunion. That first scene where they first see each for the first time in ages was very effective. All the 'miming' stuff was great, and how they were so caught up in communicating with each other that they didn't realise they'd been rumbled!

Sarah Lancashire was fab in this. Also loved Bernard Cribbins as Donna's grandad. Class actor, and loved his jumping for joy at Donna finally having found the 'blue box' and the man she'd been searching for.

And I was also surprised at Rose's appearance. Hadn't expected her till later on in the series. Ooh!

 

[Cop]

I love her sketch show but she thoroughly annoyed me as Donna in The Runaway Bride so I wasn't particularly looking forward to Donna returning

OK, I'm not a fan of her sketch show personally, I gave it a few episodes and it wasn't my cup of tea. I felt that she was cast in the Runaway Bride episode because she was flavour of the month at the time. So I wasn't looking forward to her return either.

And after tonight's episode, I'm still not convinced, I find her character annoying, and I am not 100% happy about her being the comic relief to the series, I really hope they tone her down. Even when she was giving that sob story to her Grandad, I found her irritating again, this because of the writing though - filling in plot holes mainly.

I though Sarah Lancashire was excellent, I would love to see her back again.

But going off the previous series, I'm looking forward to this one too.

 

[Joanna]

Yeah, I've watched even less of her sketch show than you, Cop, and so I'm not a big fan either. Also not always 100% on Catherine's acting in this (and going back to the Christmas special), but, taking everyone's involvement as read here, I thought it was a well put together episode that had some nice touches in it.

 

[LovelyLaura]

And, even though I'm not a fan of actors being 'recycled' within a series, loved Bernard Cribbins as Donna's grandad (he was another character in the last Christmas special). Class actor, and loved his jumping for joy at Donna finally having found the 'blue box' and the man she'd been searching for.

Bernard Cribbins was just brilliant, wasn't he? Although it's a shame he hasn't returned to the series in happier circumstances - I believe he is replacing Howard Attfield, who was due to be reprising his role as Donna's dad, but who sadly passed away during filming (tonight's episode was actually dedicated to him at the end)

Bernard's character actually somehow reminds me of Grandpa Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang....he's got that same sort of eccentricity!

I'm still reeling over Rose's surprise cameo! I'm dying to find out why she's back and how she's managed to pass through from her parallel world!

Btw, I really love the new arrangement of the theme!

Laura xx

 

[Joanna]

Bernard Cribbins was just brilliant, wasn't he? Although it's a shame he hasn't returned to the series in happier circumstances - I believe he is replacing Howard Attfield, who was due to be reprising his role as Donna's dad, but who sadly passed away during filming (tonight's episode was actually dedicated to him at the end)

Yeah, they had a bit about this on the following Doctor Who Confidential. Even showed a not overly well looking Howard going through his lines with the rest of the cast at the episode readthrough. Russell said that there was no question of getting in another actor to play Donna's dad, as it just wouldn't have been right to have done so. He also said something about Donna's dad being remembered in this series, and about it being done with dignity. So he'll definitely be referred to at some point or two.

And I didn't catch the dedication at the end...Sort of gave up with the credits once they'd been squished and talked over.

 

[Cop]

I didn't catch the dedication at the end...Sort of gave up with the credits once they'd been squished and talked over.

It was after the main cast credits, but the credits were super fast for some reason...

 

[Joanna]

Thanks. If I remember, I'll check the credits out for it on tomorrow's repeat...if my eyes are quick enough to catch the dedication text as it whizzes past them, that is!

 

[razo]

Tate wasn't as bad as I thought she would be but there were two or three cringeworthy moments.

I liked Martha and was disappointed when she left, and even moreso when I discovered her replacment was Tate.

The Rose bit was very interesting.

 

[Chris Finch]

Come on people this was a pretty weak season opener! Of all the possible stories, they come up with some nonsense about a fat pill and making baby aliens out of fat! The CGI wasn't even acceptable!

As soon as I see anything like that on screen, making baby noises, waving, winking, laughing, screaming it completely destroys the illusion for me. Same thing with the latter three Star Wars movies, too many CGI'd slapstick moments. Yes the show is aimed at kids but like the original Star Wars films Dr. Who is also aimed at adults. There needs to be a middle ground to please both audiences. I just found it stupid.

As I was watching I just felt I'd seen it all before. Some shadowy alien race or organisation hiding behind some corporate facade picking on weak earthlings to benefit themselves. Dr. Who is about TIME TRAVEL. For the first in a new series I wanted to be smaked in the face and wowed with a rollocking adventure and an original narrative. But no it's set on earth in present day. I don't mind some eps being set in present day on earth (and I know budget restrictions probably dictate) but I watch a programme like this for escapism. You don't have to have a big budget to write an easily filmable brilliant story with quality actors. The thousands that must have been spent on those animated slabs of lard could have been spent on creating a brilliant set in which to film a great story.

I am just slightly bemused that Russell and the rest of the creative team sat down for a story conference and decided that this was a strong way to open a new series. The story wasn't even strong enough to be anywhere in the series in my opinion.

I am just a bit disappointed because I feel they waste oppotunities sometimes. Some of the stories have been great in the last 3 years but some have not. The older Dr. Whos had even lesser budgets but alot of the stories were fantastic and downright chilling and scary. I am often not watching on the edge of my seat because I never really believe the Dr. is in any real danger. The writers put him in interesting situations and for a few seconds I am excited about the prospect of the Dr using his experience and ingenuity to get out of a tight spot. But then he just wafts his Sonic magic wand in the general direction of the problem and hey presto the bad situation is rectified in a pretty boring and predictable way. That screwdriver allows the writing to be lazy and all too often dead ends are always remedied by it.

I also find the general tone a little too slapstick and light-hearted at times. I think this is what prevents me from buying into the doctors situations. A bit of the eccentricity that Tennant brings to the character is good but I only truly become engaged by the character and his performance when this jokey exterior is dropped and he becomes more serious. David does this really well and delivers an intensity that should be woven more into all of the storylines.

Don't get me wrong, I quite like Russells Dr. Who revival. At times it is outstanding but too often this is countered with weak storylines and too much slapstick. There must be a very talented bunch of creatives working on 'Who', people who should be at the top of their games if they are making one of the BBC's flagship programmes. Each show will be extensively planned and pre-visualised so I don't think there are really any excuses for delivering bad episodes. I think at the moment its about 60% really good and 40% could be much better, but we should be receiving 13 excellent episodes!

Ok rant over...It just got to me that we didn't get an amazing episode to kick things off. The jury is still out on the chemistry between Donna and the Doctor but on a lighter note next weeks looks very promising from the trailer. I am guessing it will be an excellent episode. Lets hope so.

 

[Strawbs]

So you weren't keen, then?

I missed it on Saturday and only just caught it last night on BBC3 so I didn't really get a proper view of it. I'm going to watch it again on Friday and then give it a proper review.

Although, I did like the little creatures but they were probably wasted on this story. I would've quite liked to have seen them turn from cute to nasty. Scare the kids.

 

[razo]

RTD has been very hit-and-miss with the stories. There have been some brilliant episodes, and some very poor. I, like Finchy, expected a lot more from the opener.

 

[LovelyLaura]

Lol Chris, don't hold back, say what you really think!

I personally enjoyed the episode, although I do think that the series opener's tend to be the weakest episodes of each series in general.

But I suspect that episode 1 might have something to do with the series finale....with Rose turning up in the episode and knowing she's back for the finale too, I think there's something bigger going on, something that might be to do with the Daleks perhaps....I dunno, I just get that feeling! I'm probably way wrong though hahaha.

I'm really enjoying RTD's revival of Who though, but I do agree that there are certain things they need to improve on. There have been some amazing episodes though - Blink and Human Nature/The Family Of Blood being two particular favourites of mine.

Laura xx