Finally have time to start watching nuWho!

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Klaus, Jul 8, 2011.

  1. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Well a lot of classic companions end up with the Doctor by chance more than anything; Ian and Barbara, Tegan, and Rose is fleeing something, she's fleeing a very ordinary very humdrum existance.

    And yes it was a nice twist...

    The first time anyway ;)
     
  2. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Just watched "Father's Day"... I liked it, though the solution was pretty obvious, especially when the car kept looping by. The Doctor's wistfulness about not ever having a life like the married couple's was very interesting and nicely done. The go-back-and-change-things idea is one that more Companions probably should have thought of before, even if it isn't a good idea. :D It makes Rose's eventual departure to find Dad [and yes I do know about that lol] quite sensible in its own way.

    I hope to get to "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" tomorrow... but I need to go read some of A Dance With Dragons now. :D
     
  3. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    ^ Yep, I would watch those two (and probably any 2 parter) back-2-back.
     
  4. Iamnotspock

    Iamnotspock Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    :confused: Well, not exactly...
     
  5. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Maybe I misunderstood, but I'll find out when I get there... :D
     
  6. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well I finally got some time -- watched "The Empty Child", "The Doctor Dances", "Boom Town", "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways" this weekend to wrap up the Eccleston era. :(

    Good grief but he was awesome as the Doctor, a tiger indeed and delightfully goofy at the same time. I like Capt. Jack a lot, hope he's around for a while. [nice of Rose to revive him lol] CE was great as both the manic and the deadly Doctor, which is not easy... Rose floating through the Blitz on a barrage balloon was over-the-top but a really funny idea, and even across the pond I got the joke about the Doc not paying his license fee :lol: ... I liked that the finale brought it back to "The Long Game" and deepened it as originally that was my least favorite story of the season -- now, of course, I see that the fact that it came after "Dalek" was no coincidence. Also liked the way "Boom Town" followed up on "The Aliens of London" and "WW Three" as well, giving that story some more punch and telling me not to judge an ep before some time has gone by and seeing how it fits in. I called Rose's union w/the TARDIS as the way back to the future, and it's cool having it be a character in and of itself, as it were. Not sure what my favorite ep was, probably "The Doctor Dances"...

    Now that I'm going again, hopefully more progress soon! :D
     
  7. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    OK, watched "The Christmas Invasion" and "New Earth"... whilst pining for Eccleston I do like Tennant, we're definitely into Tigger-instead-of-tiger territory, no doubt about that! The Xmas special had some amusing moments [loved the spinning killer tree] and the end was very interesting. "New Earth" did the old body-swap bit pretty well, especially the back-and-forth with the Doctor and Rose. I was a little skeptical about how quickly Cassandra got nice after entering Chip's body at the end, but it must have been his influence. I'm digging how the show goes back to previous episodes, weaving an arc even when it doesn't seem like it is. It encourages one to pay attention!

    I like a lot of the little details, like Rose's mom turning around before the TARDIS dematerializes so she won't see it go. I also like that it's trying to make us think about the consequences of things.
     
  8. Davros

    Davros Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Denver PBS showed all the classic Doctors.
     
  9. WillsBabe

    WillsBabe Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Welcome, Klaus! I'm glad you are enjoying watching the new episodes. I'm enjoying reading your thoughts, too. I am about to treat myself to seasons 3 & 4 for Christmas, and start an epic watch through. I miss the Tiger and Tigger eras. :weep:
     
  10. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    At this point, I have to point to my signature. :angel:
     
  11. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    I love that quote in your sig, Emh, because it's so true. That's exactly why I enjoy Smith so much. :lol:
     
  12. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Watched "School Reunion" yesterday, and as an old Tom Baker stalwart it was great to see Sarah Jane and K9 again of course. The dynamic between her and Rose was very amusing, and "Oh my god. I'm the the tin dog." was reason enough to have Micky in the show all by itself. :lol:

    All of the talk about regeneration and the Doctor leaving the last few eps made nme think of TB's first appearance, when he rushed for the TARDIS and was about the leave when Sarah Jane stopped him at the door IIRC.

    And I forgot to mention in the last post that I was really impressed with Victoria banishing the Doctor instead of just wrapping it up neatly like your typical sf meet-the-famous-people-in-the-past trope that both DW and Trek frequently do. Much more likely a reaction from that particular monarch, if I'm allowed to characterize Vicky from this side of the pond.... :D
     
  13. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Watched "The Girl in the Fireplace" last night... wow, what a tearjerker! :eek: I thought they did a good job of it, personally. The actress who played the adult Pompadeur was pretty good IMHO, which made it work.

    "A lonely little boy," hmmmm? Bet we won't get much more about THAT anytime soon.

    On to tin men next!
     
  14. Whofan

    Whofan Fleet Captain

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    Sophia Myles (Madame Pompadour) was actually dating Tennant at the time.
     
  15. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well though the thread has been long dormant, progress has not... just watched "The Eleventh Hour", having gotten through Tigger and on to the spastic housecat. :D

    Here are some impressions from the Tenth Doctor's reign:

    "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel"
    Interesting to see the parallel universe idea make it into the Whoverse, and as an old Pink Floyd fan it's always great to see Battersea. :) Mickey's decision to stay made sense and gave his character more depth than it seemed he'd get back when we first met him.

    "The Idiot's Lantern"
    The face-stealing was an odd combination of silly and creepy, but not much to see here.

    "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit"
    Interesting but I thought there'd be more repercussions down the line [unless they're forthcoming]... the rescue of Ida was cool.

    "Love & Monsters"
    An odd mix... in the end it's just another monster-of-the-week episode, but the video-diary stuff and the LINDA bunch are diverting - and the general idea of the Doctor seeping into the edges of popular consciousness is a great one.

    "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday"
    The easy acceptance of the "ghosts" by everyone at face value was silly, but the rest was pretty cool. Cybermen plus Daleks equals fun lol. And though I knew Rose was leaving [and they'd meet again] it was still sniffle time.

    "The Runaway Bride"
    Our first taste of Donna... I guess one of the advantages of being on the other side of the pond is that while I knew of Catherine Tate I'd never really watched her show and thus had no preconceptions. I think Donna was more fun than a barrel full of monkeys, though this was another monster episode too in the end beyond setting up Donna.

    "Smith and Jones"
    Nice to see a companion who is educated as well as smart... Martha was one of the best things about this era imho. The transporting the hospital to the Moon looked pretty good and was a neat if somewhat silly idea.

    "The Shakespeare Code"
    Another monster episode enlived by the presence of the Bard, though they may have gone over the edge with the suggesting-his-own-lines-to-him bit. His hitting on Martha was classic.

    "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks"
    Back to the arc, as it were... the community of vagrants was a little too pie-in-the-sky, but it's always interesting to see the show do America. The crossing of Dalek and human is an unsettling and cool idea, and having Rose be part of the setup for it was a nice touch. The two parts also give us more background about just what happened at the end of the last Time War, which is unfurled at a maddeningly-deliberate pace that I grudgingly admit turned out to be effective lol.

    That's good for now, I'll post more tomorrow. I'm looking to be caught up and watching live by the Christmas special!
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2012
  16. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    I'm not going to say anything else, but watch out for "Blink" one of the best episodes of the 2005- run of DW.
     
  17. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It was... I've watched everything through Smith's first ep, just have to catch up on the comments. It was an awesome ep for sure. :D
     
  18. Cutter John

    Cutter John Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Thanks for the update Klaus. Its really nice to read comments from a fan whos generally positive, and not bitching about every little plot detail. :)

    (No offense intended toward those who enjoy bitching about every little plot detail.) ;)
     
  19. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ty, I try lol... If I like something, I try to approach it with an open mind and trust the creators until the ride's over. And the arc parts of the show make it perilous to judge some things too harshly before you see how they might fit in the big picture.

    Even when the show is silly, its heart is in the right place, which I really appreciate.

    Once I'm caught up here, I'm going to watch Colin Baker [which I only saw a few of] and Sylvester McCoy [which never aired here at all].
     
  20. Klaus

    Klaus Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "42"
    One of the shows with a high body count among what a friend of mine calls the "helpful humans", though of course what they turn out to be doing is not so helpful after all. A good example of the monster-that's-not-a-monster-really trope, which this show does so often I sometimes get surprised when it really is a nasty evil badguy... And I liked the bit with Saxon trying to use Martha's mom to track the Doctor.


    "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood"
    By way of contrast this really is a bunch of bad folks, so we get an uninhibited battle... the bit with the Doctor being disguised as a human was a neat idea, and I liked Martha's difficulties in fitting in back then. I imagine there was a lot of discussion about how it wasn't tough enough for her, but that's an ongoing question with Martha's race/gender/modern attitudes in their trips to the past.
    The standout part of this story to me was the end, with the Doctor's vengeance on the family being so eye-poppingly nasty and the tie-in with Timothy surviving the trenches and then the bit at the end. It was a little taste of the man who ended the Time War and a bit disconcerting yet bracing to see in Tennant. It turned what could have been an ordinary story into something special for me.


    "Blink"
    Wow... just wow. Easy to see why this is one of the all-time favs. Speaking of bad guys, they don't get any scarier than this, and AFAIK it's a pretty unique idea. SF is full of things like Daleks and Cybermen, but the Angels are a mind-blowing concept. Despite being a Doctor-lite episode it kept going very smoothly, with the DVDs and timeloops very entertaining. The bit with the bow-and-arrows and lizard-hunting was a classic throwaway which I hope they never explain. It's perfect as it is.


    "Utopia"
    As a old lover of I, Claudius I'm always tickled crimson to see Derek Jacobi in pretty much anything, and having him be the Master [albeit briefly] was a hoot... and I love Capt. Jack, plus the tie-in with the Face of Bo's last message and the Doctor's severed hand was cool. Other than that it's mainly a setup episode of course for the main event.


    "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords"
    As someone raised on Anthony Ainley and Roger Delgado, Simm's Master is a bit of a culture shock... I liked the portrayal but I had a hard time accepting him as being the Master for a while. [It'd help if he'd shrunken someone down to doll-size! :lol:] Taking over as PM is a logical idea, and the bit with the incineration of President Winters was a classic, even for someone from over here. In an election season, disintegrating politicians always seems like a good idea. :p [This show's portrayal of America brings an ongoing smile to my face... and in its own way no less inaccurate than how we show ourselves on TV. Always good to have an exterior perspective. :D]
    Jelly Babies. :lol:
    Gandalf. :lol:
    The aged Doctor was an odd-looking little thing, that's for sure... not sure how well that worked.
    I really liked the solution, with the mental energies of the planet concentrated to save the Doctor in return for all the times he'd saved them... a catch-in-the-throat time to be sure and probably my favorite Martha moment of all... and the loss of that memory was an interesting foreshadow of what would happen to Donna, as it turns out. Martha's departure made sense, sad as I was to see her go... and Jack as the Face of Boe is a stellar idea... having the Master die be a bad thing from the Doctor's POV was also nicely done, though I know better than to assume it's permanent lol.

    OK I'll stop there at the season's end. More soon, but I have to go watch "Vampires of Venice". :D