Doctor Who Thread

[dead0man]

aye, a depressing episode.

[MasterJedi]

Well that was the most heartbreaking episode of Doctor Who episode. Goodbye Ponds, you will be missed.

[MasterJedi]

New episode tonight, who's excited? I have to avoid the Doctor Who sites tonight so I don't get spoiled.

On another note I'm working my way through Old Who. It's really good, but not as good as Nu Who. They just delivered the "Planet of the Giants" story DVD yesterday so I'll get to that soon.

[Silent Hunter]

Very interesting. "Planet of the Giants" isn't one of the best stories, but wait until you get to the next one.

[Platypus]

christmas ep...better than last year's, and overally not awful at all really.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

christmas ep...better than last year's, and overally not awful at all really.

That's all I really ask for from the 'plot' of a Doctor Who Christmas episode.

MasterJedi is watching the First Doctor? Excellent.

[Silent Hunter]

christmas ep...better than last year's, and overally not awful at all really.

That's all I really ask for from the 'plot' of a Doctor Who Christmas episode.

MasterJedi is watching the First Doctor? Excellent.

MasterJedi: what are you doing about the missing stories?

[MasterJedi]

christmas ep...better than last year's, and overally not awful at all really.

That's all I really ask for from the 'plot' of a Doctor Who Christmas episode.

MasterJedi is watching the First Doctor? Excellent.

MasterJedi: what are you doing about the missing stories?

Pisses me off since I won't be able to view all of the series. So far though (I've been buying all the episodes to watch them instead of just breezing through them all online) I've only had to not watch "Marco Polo" and "Reign of Terror" but it looks like later First Doctor and definitly the Second Doctor absolutly get destroyed by that horrible BBC policy. What I've basically been doing is reading the synopsis on Wikipedia/other sites to get all of what happens.

[Silent Hunter]

but it looks like later First Doctor and definitly the Second Doctor absolutly get destroyed by that horrible BBC policy. What I've basically been doing is reading the synopsis on Wikipedia/other sites to get all of what happens.

Second Doctor got it really bad - there's only one story of Season 5 intact ("Tomb of the Cybermen") and that was only because it turned up in Hong Kong. It's only the hard work of fans that we have much of what we have. Same policy also has a couple of Third Doctor things only on black & white, although some of that has been restored to colour.

You can actually get the narrated audio soundtracks from Audible and AudioGo for the ones that are missing (and a few that aren't for some reason). That's how I did "The Daleks' Master Plan" of which only three of twelve episodes exist.

Also "Reign of Terror" is getting a DVD release with the missing two episodes animated (I have it on pre-order), but I don't know when it's coming out in R1. I would highly recommend too a box set called "Lost in Time", which has everything from the 'orphaned' stories (bar the two eps that turned up in 2011, although they'll probably be in a re-release).

Check your PMs.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

I'm in love with Clara. She looks very promising as a companion.

[MasterJedi]

That Christmas Special was amazing! It's up there at the same level as A Christmas Carol. Second half of Series 7 looks amazing too, better then the first half and I still loved it. Still sad to see Amy go but I do really like Clara as well.

[dead0man]

I don't know, last year I must have bought more into the story 'cause the tear jerker scenes worked on me.  This year I just giggled...."an entire family crying at Christmas".  Though I do like Clara.

[politicallefty]

I haven't seen the Christmas episode yet, which awaits me on the DVR. I hope this one's good, as I really haven't been too impressed by the Christmas episodes.

It's a bit annoying to see the current season split, though the first half was quite enjoyable. The mid-season finale was pretty powerful in its ending. However, it really was a good ending despite its depressing nature. I am ultimately okay to see the companionship end that way. Personally, I can't really get over Donna's departure in Journey's End. That was a horrendously depressing ending. Even though I've only watched the new series (i.e. 9th Doctor and beyond), I think Donna was probably the best companion. I hated that ending, particularly in how she was so undeservedly cheated in the end.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I still haven't forgiven Russell T. Davies for what happened to Donna, which was not only depressing (like every other post-2005 companion with the arguable exception of Martha) but depressing in a way that was completely unjustified from the perspective of character or thematic development (unlike every other post-2005 companion with the arguable exception of Rose).

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Well, that's misogyny for you.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Seriously looking at gender in post-2005 Doctor Who (and a lot of pre-2005, but not all) is, indeed, more often than not an absolute misery.

[afleitch]

Seriously looking at gender in post-2005 Doctor Who (and a lot of pre-2005, but not all) is, indeed, more often than not an absolute misery.

I think that's a little harsh. Pre-2005 Who was generally awful, with alot of companions essentially being nothing more than 'damsels' who usually need saving after making a mess of something. We've since had a variety of strong male and female characters displaying just about every facet of personality. In this Christmas episode we have a interspecies lesbian relationship and no one bats an eyelid. Looking at British TV on a whole, Doctor Who is probably the most diverse and honest show out there.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Mind you, seriously looking at gender in almost any popular television show is more often than not an absolute misery.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Seriously looking at gender in post-2005 Doctor Who (and a lot of pre-2005, but not all) is, indeed, more often than not an absolute misery.

I think that's a little harsh. Pre-2005 Who was generally awful, with alot of companions essentially being nothing more than 'damsels' who usually need saving after making a mess of something. We've since had a variety of strong male and female characters displaying just about every facet of personality. In this Christmas episode we have a interspecies lesbian relationship and no one bats an eyelid. Looking at British TV on a whole, Doctor Who is probably the most diverse and honest show out there.

Which of course pisses all sorts of people off, asking how 'necessary' it is to have such characters.

Not that I'm complaining, of course, I personally think it's great.

[politicallefty]

I can only speak for the post-2005 series (which is all I've seen). I actually started watching Series 4 reruns just over two years before I decided to start from the 2005 beginning. Like I said before, I really cannot stand how Donna left the show. To me, it would have been an otherwise great finale to the season. Rose had a pretty rough departure at the end of Series 2. It was still a pretty good ending and her final appearance in the end of Series 4 wrapped things up pretty well for her. Martha leaving as companion was more confusing than anything, but I can't say I have any real complaints there. But yeah, what happened to Donna really was unforgivable. If they absolutely had to write her out, that really was not the way to do it. It's still a painful thing to watch.

I don't know how much misogyny played into any storyline, but I always noticed how terrible Rory was always treated as a companion. Him and Amy leaving was a very emotional and depressing scene, but I do think it was a good and proper ending. I have to say that I wouldn't mind some more River Song overall (who I think would make for a very fascinating companion if it were to ever happen).

Actually, I do have to say one of my biggest complaints aside from Donna leaving has been the lack of connection between pre-Series 5 and everything after (with River Song being a notable exception). Though many of them have been very good (and some quite excellent), most of them seem to have been lacking a certain something that I can't quite figure out. With Rose, you always had her connection to Mickey and Jackie (who was really an enjoyable character) and Donna with her family. Overall, I just find myself more lured to the first four seasons (2005+). The problem is that I can't quite figure out why (and it's not that I have anything against the 11th Doctor at all)...

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

It might have something to do with the fact that the entire production staff and main cast changed all at once for the first non-sixteen-year-hiatus-related time in Doctor Who history.

[politicallefty]

That makes a lot more sense then. The change from Series 4 to Series 5 is pretty dramatic, and I can't say that I've liked it. Like I said though, the last couple seasons haven't been bad at all, but I don't think they can compare at all with the first four. In my view, they just haven't hit any of the high points of the previous seasons and have been mostly mediocre at best. If I made a top 20 list of best episodes, I think only The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone would make the list out of Series 5-6 (though maybe one or two episodes from S6). S5 has almost certainly been the low point in the post-2005 series. The first four had their low points as well (albeit fewer and farther between), but their high points were easily some of the best episodes.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

See, the thing is I think Russell T. Davies is a mediocre writer in general, and I'm very much of two minds about...pretty much about Doctor Who, as written, as a whole, actually, with some exceptions scattered over the decades. It's very possible to dredge the sixties, seventies, and eighties for gems, it's just a somewhat arcane task at times.

[politicallefty]

I know where you're coming from. But I don't think my opinion comes from the head executive/producer, if you will. Steven Moffat has written many great episodes, but I haven't been in love with the post-S5 series. For me, some of his best have been: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Blink, and Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. Those are some of the best of Doctor Who. He's had good episodes after (especially those with the Weeping Angels), but the show hasn't felt the same to me since pre-S5.

RTD has had many great episodes as well, but I think probably gets a bad wrap simply on account of writing so many. For all their individual faults, he did write the finales for series 1-4. In fact, if it wasn't for the way Donna left the show, the S4 finale would have been my favorite finale. And, though it may have somewhat corny, I've always enjoyed Aliens of London/World War III. I also think Midnight and Turn Left were strong episodes in S4, not to mention underrated The Long Game and Gridlock.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Say what you will about Moffat Who, but just having Gaiman and strong start-to-end stories lately makes me quite happy. The Doctor's Wife and The Girl Who Waited really show that this show has a great future, even when Moffat is gone.

The only problem I have with his Who is that it's rather inconsistent from story to story. I'm fine with the overarching story (I don't understand why people consider it confusing, it's simple really), but there's some issues here and there that I wish were picked up (How was the TARDIS blown up?)